VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Special Hospital Association (ASHA) declared a temporary halt to admitting new patients under the Aarogyasri scheme starting December 29. This decision was taken following the government’s alleged failure to settle pending bills amounting more than Rs 1,000 crore, as stated by ASHA officials. ASHA president Dr V Murali Krishna stated that the decision taken was not with the intention of troubling the government or not to take advantage of the turbulent pre-election situation.
Private network hospitals across Andhra Pradesh, serving beneficiaries of the Aarogyasri scheme since 2007, jointly decided to cease admitting new patients. The hospitals cite unresolved operational issues, non-enhancement of package prices for a decade, and a mere 2% incentive for NABH quality instead of the national standard of 15%.
Over the past ten years, inflation has risen by 75%, and medical inflation has exceeded 100%, yet requests for a 30% increase in package prices were not taken seriously, he added.ASHA general secretary K Vijay Kumar and vice-president Y Ramesh Babu were present.