63 hospitals get notices for irregularities

CHANDIGARH: Acting on reports and complaints of irregularities in the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat-Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojna (AB-SSBY), the State Anti-Fraud Unit (SAFU) has issued 77 show-cause notices to 63 hospitals. Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said SAFU was directed to find irregularities in implementation of scheme and take stringent action against every erring entity.

He added that the chief executive officer, Amit Kumar, who is the chairman of SAFU committee had said that Rs 27.6 lakh had been recovered as penalty from hospitals; 14 hospitals had been de-empanelled and licences of nine hospitals have been temporarily suspended. Another 24 have been issued warning letters and seven issued advisories.

On major discrepancies that the hospitals had committed, Sidhu said these include wrong referral cases, money taken from beneficiaries for medicines and treatment by the empanelled hospitals and claiming money for ICU wards, whereas the patient was admitted in the general ward. He added other irregularities committed included claiming money for bilateral surgical procedures, whereas only unilateral procedure was performed, denial of cashless treatment by the empanelled hospital to beneficiaries and more than one surgical package claimed during a single hospitalisation.

For easy access of secondary and tertiary treatment services under the AB-SSBY, the minister added that the state government had set up a District Anti-Fraud Unit (DAFU) to check these types of frauds. He added that the DAFU had been directed to take immediate action.