Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a health insurance programme, has been suspended at the PGI for patients from the state after the Punjab Government failed to pay seven months’ worth of dues totaling Rs 16 crore.
The Ayushman Bharat Yojana owes the government Rs 300 crore. The case is with the Finance Department, and it will likely take a week for the debt to be paid in full. Punjab’s Ajoy Sharma, Principal Secy, Health
Around 1,200–1,400 people from Punjab who are enrolled in the insurance programme visit the facility each month. Patients may suffer as a result of PGI ceasing treatment due to non-reimbursement of cash and no government hospital in Punjab providing care under the programme. For the past four months, we have been denied care under the insurance plan for my aunt’s knee surgery, according to Manjinder Singh of the Fazilka region. Our only chance was the PGI, but it is no longer treating patients.
Claims filed by the PGI since December 21, 2021, totaling around Rs 16 crore, are still pending with Punjab.
“From August 1 onward, Punjabi Ayushman Bharat Yojana recipients are not eligible for benefits under the programme. Any recipient who requests a new admission will be required to pay user fees, just as regular patients. The PGI nodal officer for the plan issued a statement that stated, “The beneficiaries from other states would continue to utilise the services as usual.”