New Delhi, July 3 (Mayank Nigam) Owing to the nonpayment of a massive outstanding sum by the Union Government, Max Group of hospitals has stopped the cashless transactions under Central Government Health Scheme, sources told UNI. However, the hospitals under the group continue to treat patients eligible under the scheme by taking cash for the treatments at the government-approved rates, they added. A month ago, a similar step was taken by Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune. The hospital has an outstanding due of Rs 22 crores. According to an estimate, the Union Government owes Rs 270 crores to Max Healthcare alone, sources said. The private hospitals empanelled under the central health scheme said that they are in financial distress as the Centre has failed to initiate any action in the matter of payment of outstanding dues.
While Max Healthcare has the lion’s share in outstanding sum, other large hospitals like Fortis and Medanta are due to receive over Rs 70 and 50 crores respectively from the Centre, according to the sources. According to the Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), more than 500 crores of outstanding dues are yet to be released by the Central Government. The association and representatives from large hospitals had a meeting with the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on May 12 where the issue was raised once again. “The hospitals were assured that the issue will be resolved soon but it is close to two months now and the situation has deteriorated further. A few hospitals have stopped cashless transactions under CGHS. Many have stopped their OPDs for beneficiaries of this scheme,” a source privy to the development said. Meanwhile, the AHPI has written again to the Union Health Ministry updating them with the scenario with a request to clear all the dues of the hospitals.
The Union Ministry informed the association that the dues will be cleared in a month, AHPI said. “We were told that it will take a month at least to release the pending payment. The Centre should understand the difficulty the empanelled hospitals are facing due to the financial instability arising due to inordinate delays in the payment,” Dr Giridhar Gyani, Director General, AHPI, told UNI. “Cash is the oil which keeps private hospitals running. The share of government health schemes contributes to around 50 per cent of the transactions while the rest is managed by cash. Now if half of the total transactions are kept on hold, how the hospitals are supposed to function effectively?” asked Gyani.