In a major decision, the Telangana Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA) declared an indefinite halt to services under the Aarogyasri scheme from the midnight of September 16 citing delay in the release of pending payments despite repeated assurances, The Hindu reported.
According to TANHA president Vaddiraju Rakesh in a statement, the association had conducted numerous meetings with Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha, including the Aarogyasri Health Care Trust (AHCT) officials in the last 20 days. Narasimha claimed the matter was being handled seriously, yet the delays in releasing payments remained ongoing.
“Despite repeated assurances and promises from both the Health Department and AHCT, there has been no resolution to our long-pending issues. We are, therefore, left with no option but to indefinitely withhold services across all private network hospitals in Telangana from September 16, 11.59 p.m.,” The Hindu quoted Rakesh as saying.
10-day strike was called off earlier this year
The association appealed to beneficiaries and the public for understanding regarding their limitations and expressed regret for any inconvenience caused by the suspension of services. Earlier this year, the association had boycotted the services but ended the 10-day strike following discussions with the Health Minister.
Dr Rakesh told The New Indian Express in January this year that they presented several key concerns and demands to the Trust. These included revising the one-sided MoU between hospitals and the Trust, updating the Aarogyasri and EHS/JHS packages using a scientific methodology, ensuring timely and regular payments, clearing all pending dues, stopping arbitrary cancellation or reductions of approved packages, sometimes slashed by as much as 30%, and establishing a proper grievance redressal system.
He warned that unless the Trust showed genuine intent to address these issues, hospitals would be forced to suspend their services and further emphasised that policymakers have overlooked the difficulties faced by empanelled hospitals, particularly in rural districts, where the flaws in the healthcare coverage system hit the hardest.
Dr Rakesh also noted that the recent expansion of the health cover from ₹5 lakh to Rs10 lakh worsened tensions between the hospitals and the Trust. Hospitals argued that the enhanced coverage was being implemented in an unscientific and unsustainable manner, the report added.
The TANHA represents 471 private hospitals that provide treatment to thousands of patients under the Aarogyasri scheme, reports said. This programme, aimed at supporting families living below the poverty line, offers free medical services to over 3.2 crore cardholders.
