Private hospitals demand paediatric scheme dues of over ₹23 crore pending since 2017
The Hindu
Attributing the delay in payments of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram to a technical glitch, SAST officials said the issue is being sorted out
Private hospitals in Karnataka are upset over the delay in payment for paediatric surgeries done under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), a centrally-funded health scheme under the National Health Mission (NHM) till 2017.
This scheme, which was subsumed under Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) in 2018, has now again been announced as a separate health scheme for children.
According to the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) State unit, bills to the tune of over ₹23 crore are pending since 2017. Officials attribute the delay to a technical glitch in the listing of procedures on the portal of Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), the nodal agency implementing the State’s health schemes. The issue is now before the government and the payment is awaiting cabinet clearance.
RBSK was launched in 2013-2014 to improve survival, growth and development of children in the 0-18 years group. Focusing on the screening of infants, children and young adults for 4 D’s — Defects at birth, Deficiencies, Diseases, Developmental delays and Disabilities — the scheme initially covered a total of 40 medical procedures which subsequently increased to 104.
The scheme ensured children diagnosed with illness received follow-up care including early intervention services at the district level and including surgeries at tertiary level, free of cost under NHM. Services not available in government hospitals are made available in private empanelled hospitals.
According to SAST officials, the number of procedures listed on its portal under RBSK got integrated with over 800 procedures under the erstwhile Vajpayee Arogyasri (VAS) and old Yeshasvini schemes. Seven schemes were integrated into AB-ArK in 2018. While the relaunch of RBSK is yet to take off, a modified Yeshasvini scheme became operational from January 1.
“It was a technical glitch, and for empanelled hospitals all these procedures figured under RBSK, VAS and Yeshasvini. Unaware of the technical glitch, hospitals accepted patients for all the integrated procedures. Some hospitals also treated patients for the same procedures under VAS and Yeshasvini and their payments have been cleared. Although preauthorisations sent to SAST were approved, payments could not be released as the codes for the additional integrated procedures (that were under VAS and Yeshasvini) were not part of the NHM codes,” SAST Executive Director Shiva Shankara N told The Hindu.
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