Hospitals threaten to stop cashless facility

PATIENTS UNDER CGHS AND ECHS ARE LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED AS BILLS WORTH AT LEAST ₹1,000 CRORE ARE YET TO BE CLEARED BY GOVT

NEWDELHI: Several associations of doctors, hospitals and nursing homes have cited low rates and delayed payments, and threatened to stop the cashless treatment of millions of beneficiaries under the central government’s medical care schemes for its employees, pensioners and their families unless timely reimbursements are made.

The warning comes as bills worth at least ₹1,000 crore under schemes like the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) remain pending, according to Association of Healthcare Providers (India) or AHPI. At least 3.2 million people across India are covered under CGHS and 550,000 under ECHS.

AHPI director-general Dr Girdhar Gyani said the group is not saying that it will stop treating patients covered under schemes like CGHS. “…all we are saying is that we will stop providing cashless treatment.”

Gyani called it a stopgap measure to deal with the delay in payments. “The beneficiaries can pay for the service at the CGHS rates and then seek reimbursements from the government,” said Gyani

Several large private hospitals like Lilavati, Hinduja, Apollo, Max, Fortis, Ganga Ram, Christian Medical College Vellore, are among at least 10,000 members of the AHPI spread across 33 states and Union Territories.

Medical associations say that special rates insurance providers have negotiated rates that are 30 - 50% lower than the regular rates, and are compounding the problem. “GIPSA [General Insurance Public Sector Association], an organisation formed by the