Chabra said, “We have been providing services in good faith, but no payments have been made for months. The financial burden has become unsustainable.”Despite repeated assurances of payment clearance within two weeks, no action has been taken, he said. “With no resolution in sight and hospitals facing punitive action for refusing treatment, we announce suspension of all cashless services under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme,’’ said Chabra.Refuting the claims made by the Private Hospitals and Nursing Home Association Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh termed the statement as “false and misleading,” revealing that the total pending amount for both public and private hospitals is `364 crore.As per official data, the breakdown of pending payments shows that Rs 166.67 crore are owed to public hospitals, while private hospitals are due `197 crore. Balbir Singh said that since April 1 this year the government has disbursed Rs 101.66 crore to private hospitals and Rs 112 crore to public hospitals, totalling Rs 214.30 crore.He explained that technical glitches arose from February this year after switching to new software for claim processing launched by National Health Agency (NHA), which resulted in slowing down the claim processing. However, the State Health Agency (SHA) took prompt measures, including deputing more staff and working on weekends and holidays, to address the issue.Singh called a meeting with PHANA representatives on Friday. A meeting with the IMA has also been fixed on September 25 to address concerns about payments and SHS.
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