Poor patients badly affected due to halting of Aarogyasri services in Warangal

Warangal: The halting of Aarogyasri services by private hospitals has put patients in a quandary as they are unable to decide whether to continue to go to them or to turn to government hospitals.

The Telangana Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (THANA) had earlier announced that private hospitals had gone bankrupt because of debts and were unable to remain operational. They were turning down patients who wanted to get treatment under the Aarogyasri scheme.

Poor patients who could not afford to pay for treatment did not know where to go for treatment. There are 160 hospitals in Warangal which were offering treatment under the Aarogyasri scheme.

The doctors are demanding that the state government release pending payments immediately, modify the guidelines of the Memorandum of Understanding and revise the package rates, which had been the same since 2007.

“We were asked to supply meals worth 20 then; now, the trust wants us to offer meals worth Rs 100 to the patient. But the rates offered for a service package have remained the same and have not been released immediately either,” said convener of network hospitals V. Rakesh.