Cough up Aarogyasri dues or will stop services: Private hospitals to government

Hyderabad: Private hospitals empanelled under Aarogyasri have reiterated their demand of stopping all services to scheme beneficiaries if the government failed to clear their long-standing dues of Rs 1,500 crore by August 15.

They said that the recently released Rs 100 crore was a meagre amount and wanted the government to release the remaining 95 per cent of dues at the earliest.

Private hospitals from across the State, that are part of Telangana Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA), staged a dharna at Indira Park on Saturday in this connection.

Managements, doctors, paramedical staff from nearly 240 empanelled hospitals took part in the dharna. Complete payment of pending dues, regular payment through the green channel, revision of treatment tariffs, modification of MoU are their main demands of the private hospitals.

Association president Dr V Rakesh said that hospitals are in debts and not in a position to function as income resources dried up and their hands are already full with bank loans.

"We have been demanding the release of dues for more than a year. Aarogyasri payment to private hospitals is roughly Rs 50 crore per month and if the amount is not given every month, dues pile up and become huge amounts which is the situation now," they said.

Private hospitals association members said that they are ready to extend the best treatments to Aarogyasri beneficiaries, with most of them poorest of the poor, but the government should come to their rescue by releasing dues in the next few days.