Adopting a zero-tolerance policy, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Tuesday, said the hospitals who commit fraud under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, would be named and shamed if found guilty.

Stringent Action Against Frauds

“Nearly 1,200 cases of fraud have been confirmed and action has been taken against 338 hospitals in the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY),” Vardhan said. The minister also assured stringent action to be taken against those recognised committing any malpractice. 

“Not only would such hospitals found involved in any kind of fraudulent activity and malpractices be de-empanelled, but their names would also be put up on the official website of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and made public. The idea is to name and shame them,” Vardhan said. 

“The message is loud and clear that no fraud, even of a minute nature, will be tolerated in the whole scheme,” he added. Indu Bhushan, CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), the apex body responsible for the implementation of the Centre’s scheme, said that the decision to publicly name the fraudsters under Ayushman Bharat was taken in collaboration with the IRDAI.

“In fact, we have suggested that such hospitals should not only be de-empanelled from PMJAY, but also from other schemes including the CGHS and the ECHA,” he said.

With 376 hospitals under investigation, the NHA has taken action in terms of issuing show-cause notices, suspending, levying penalty and de-empanelling against 338 hospitals, Vardhan informed. 

New Health Centres Under Ayushman Scheme

With an aim of setting up 1,50,000 Health and Wellness centres under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan,  informed that the government will establish 40,000 such centres by March 31, 2020, in a press conference in Delhi.

The health minister recently said that the governing board of the NHA decided to revamp the current health benefits packages and rationalise their costs. This will ensure wider private sector participation by empanelling more hospitals to improve access to hospitalisation-related care.

Under the health care scheme, so far more than 10 crore e-cards have been distributed among the beneficiaries. He further informed that within one year of its launch the scheme has so far helped more than 45 lakh people.

PMJAY covers 50 crore poor and vulnerable people in the country, providing a health assurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care for illnesses, he elaborated. PM-JAY also provides cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service.

At present, 32 States and Union Territories are implementing the PMJAY. Under the scheme, around 18,073 hospitals and health care providers have been established across the country. Of this, 53 per cent of the hospitals are private, especially those which are multi-speciality, and 62 per cent of the treatments have been in these private hospitals.

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