With no written assurance that pending dues worth around Rs 300 crore under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) will be cleared, the PMJAY Empanelled Private Hospital Association Gujarat (PEPHAG) – umbrella body comprising 789 private and charitable hospitals – on Thursday said that it not accept patients under the scheme from February 26 to 29, as a “symbolic protest”.
The association had on February 13 addressed a press conference in Ahmedabad, alleging that the government is yet to pay dues pending for the last two years and several private and trust-run hospitals are “on the verge of bankruptcy” owing to this. The association had also claimed that several representations regarding the issue have been made to various government officials, including Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, but received no response.
The association’s media spokesperson, Palanpur-based Dr Ramesh Chaudhary, told The Indian Express: “Following the press conference, we received a call from the office of Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel for a meeting on February 21. We met Principal Secretary (Health) Dhananjay Dwivedi and other officials but they only orally assured us that our issues will be resolved and refused to give us anything in writing.”
“We will proceed with our symbolic protest. The hospitals have decided not to accept any patient under PMJAY from February 26 to 29. If our issues remain unresolved even after that, we may proceed to not accept patients under PMJAY indefinitely and intensify our movement,” he added.
The PEPHAG members have also complained “unexplained deductions and rejection of claims by the insurance company Bajaj Allianz”.
