Private hospitals pull back on Ayushman Bharat amid low state funding

livemint.com:

₹7,500 crore to PMJAY this year. Officials from NITI Aayog, health ministry, and private hospitals who held a review meeting of the scheme on 1 May raised concern over the inadequate release of funds by states for the insurance scheme, persons aware of the matter said. “The problem of untimely payments to the hospitals arose when some states like Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh merged their state health scheme into the PMJAY," said Girdhar Gyani, director general, Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI).

which represents majority of healthcare providers in India. The inordinate delay in receiving reimbursement has hampered the cash flow of these private hospitals and created serious operational issues, Gyani said. The reduced participation of private hospitals in the Ayushman Bharat scheme could severely impact patients, especially as a brutal heatwave sweeps across many states, triggering a surge in heat-related illnesses.

“The government is positively reviewing the critical feedback of the scheme from the private sector," one of the persons cited above said. “The National Health Authority has played its role. Now, the state government must finance the scheme to make PM-JAY sustainable for the private sector," one of the persons said.

“Right now, private hospitals are feeling exhausted because of PM-JAY. Initially, the private sector thought that they would be able to fill their vacant beds at subsidized rates, but now it is consuming their profits," said the person, adding the government is trying to address the concerns raised. Queries sent to the health ministry and NHA spokesperson remained unanswered till press time.