Talks Bear Fruit, Aarogyasri Services Resume In Network Hosps

Hyderabad: The talks between the government and the private hospital managements were successful and the Aarogyasri services in the network hospitals began from midnight on Monday.

The Health Minister C Damodar Raja Narsimha had a meeting with the representatives of the Aarogyasri Network Hospitals on Monday. The Minister assured to solve the issues of the hospitals and asked them not to cause inconvenience to the poor patients.

He recalled that the government had released Rs 1,137 crore in the first year itself. He also recalled that the government had revised the rates of the packages. He said that during the previous government, while the average payment was Rs 500 crore the Congress government made payments of over Rs 1,000 crore. He assured to clear the dues within six months and ensure there is no due.

Talking to the media later, the Telangana Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA) president Dr Rakesh said that there were four main demands related to finances and some non-financial concerns. He said that the Health Minister had assured to resolve the financial issues within four to five months. Similarly, the re-drafting of MoU and revision of packages, prompt payments, and redressal mechanism would also be addressed. He said that the Minister has agreed to form a committee and this committee would regularly meet and discuss related concerns. If there are any issues the committee would bring it to the notice of the Minister, he added.

The Association president said that from 10 pm on January 20, the Aarogyasri EHS, JHS services have started. It may be mentioned here that the network hospitals have stopped the Aarogyasri services closing down the counters for the last ten days demanding payment of dues.

The TANHA had written a letter to the government stating that they would stop the service if the bills were not paid by January 10. With the talks being successful, the services will be provided to the patients now.