Centre owes Rs 249 crore to Punjab under Ayushman Bharat scheme: Health Minister Balbir Singh

Chandigarh: Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh on Tuesday said there is no diversion of funds under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and claimed that the Centre owes Rs 249 crore to the state.

His statement came days after Union Health Minister J P Nadda asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to clear the dues of private hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

The Private Hospital and Nursing Home Association (PHANA) in Punjab had earlier claimed that the state government owed over Rs 600 crore and also had threatened to stop providing medical treatments under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, free medical treatment limit of up to Rs 5 lakh is provided.

The health minister on Tuesday said the previous governments were running this scheme under insurance mode under which they used to pay premium but in December 2021, they had abruptly cancelled the contract with the entrusted insurance company leading to chaos.

"Our government has inherited the broken system and had to bring this scheme under the trust mode," he added.

Punjab gets share to the ratio of 60:40 for the socio-economic caste census (SECC) under 16.65 lakh families are beneficiaries.

Out of total claims of approximately Rs 585 crore, the Centre has to pay Rs 350.74 crore against which State Health Agency (SHA) has received Rs 169.34 crore.

The minister said the amount of Rs 249.81 crore, which includes Rs 51.34 crores administrative charges and Rs 17.07 crore previous balance, is pending with the central government.

He informed a team of senior officers from the SHA had a meeting with Union Health Nadda requesting him to release the instalment of pending payment so that payment can be made to private hospitals.

"Even, I have personally written to Nadda, for a meeting to request him the release of pending payments but in vain," he said.

Singh said there has been no diversion of central government funds and all the funds are being utilised solely for public welfare.

The minister attributed the delay in payment to hospitals to "technical glitches" after switching to new software launched by the National Health Agency (NHA) in February 2024.

However, the SHA took prompt measures to address the issue.

Singh also offered private hospitals, which are unable to provide treatment under this scheme, to opt out of this scheme.