The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Haryana has decided to suspend Ayushman services from August 7. This decision comes after an online meeting between the IMA Haryana team and the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Health, Sudhir Rajpal, along with officials of the Ayushman Bharat Haryana Health Authority.
During the meeting, the authorities informed the IMA representatives that they had received Rs 245 crores in funding, comprising Rs 175 crores from the Haryana Government and Rs 70 crores from the Central Government, for the current quarter. The authorities informed the IMA team that at present around Rs 490 crore in arrears to private hospitals is still pending.
The IMA expressed concerns over the insufficiency of the allocated funds, prompting the authorities to announce plans to demand a supplementary budget in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on August 22. However, the exact amount of the supplementary budget remains uncertain.
The IMA also raised issues regarding delayed payments, citing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and demanding interest as per the contract. However, the authorities maintained that punitive interest cannot be provided.
Another point of contention was the automatic deduction of transplant-related payments by the portal, with the authorities claiming that the National Health Authority (NHA) had already made these payments. The IMA requested a list of cases, but the authorities stated that the list would be sent to the concerned hospitals, which reportedly denied receiving payment information.
Following the meeting, IMA Haryana convened an online meeting with contracted hospitals, where the decision to suspend Ayushman services was unanimously made.
This development is expected to have significant implications for healthcare services in the region. The decision was announced in a joint statement by IMA Haryana President Dr Mahaveer P Jain, Immediate Past President Dr Ajay Mahajan, Chairman of Ayushman Hospitals Dr Suresh Arora and Honorary Secretary Dr Dhirendra K Soni.