Chandigarh, Aug 5 (IANS) With the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office, the PGI Hospital here on Friday said it restarted benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme for beneficiaries from Punjab.
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Deputy Director Kumar Gaurav Dhawan said the institute has taken this decision on the directives from the Prime Minister’s and the Union Health Minister’s offices to restart the programme so that the patients should not suffer.
A communication was received from the Secretary Health of Punjab, stating that in the next few days all pending dues will be cleared.
“For the institute, the patient care is the top most priority. we have restarted extending the benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme for beneficiaries from Punjab from today so that patients coming from Punjab should not suffer. We earnestly request the competent authorities to address the issue at the earliest to enable us sustain our decision taken only in the interest of our patients’ well being,” Dhawan said.
Earlier, the PGIMER was stopped the benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme over pending claims exceeding Rs 15 crore from August 1.
However, the patients from Punjab continued to seek treatment at the institute as routine patients by paying the user charges or under other applicable welfare schemes, if so eligible.
Before taking the decision, the institute had already brought the matter to the notice of Punjab health authorities and the National Health Authority (NHA) on April 1, May 13, and June 7.
Later, the matter was even brought to the attention of senior Punjab officials.
–IANS
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