HIMCARE to continue after plugging pilferages: Agnihotri

SHIMLA 8th August, 2024

Ayushman Bharat should extend to the entire population of Himachal

There is no intention of closing HIMCARE Yojna in the State as being propagated by the opposition but the loopholes in the scheme need to be plugged, stated Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri while chairing the first meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee constituted to look into the anomalies which came to the fore in the HIMCARE scheme and the centrally aided Ayushman Bharat Yojna. HIMCARE Yojna will continue, he remarked.
Health Minister, Dr. (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil, Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar, Revenue Minister, Jagat Singh Negi and Youth Services and Sports Minister Yadvinder Goma were present as the members of the committee.
Mukesh Agnihotri said lots of hue and cry was being made by the opposition pertaining to the closure of the HIMCARE scheme by the present Government. He said that the scheme started during the BJP regime had lots of loopholes where checks and balances pertaining to reimbursement of claims had no clear mention as such. Many such instances have come to notice where the amount of medical bills and that of treatment differed. The claim amount was on the much higher side. The committee will look into all the aspects of the scheme with added reforms and guidelines together plugging the pilferage, stated Sh. Agnihotri.
He said that there was a liability of Rs. 457 crore which includes Rs. 150 crore as the liability of private hospitals and around Rs. 307 crore of Government hospitals.
As far as the Ayushman Bharat scheme is concerned, it was informed that there was a cap of only including 5.32 families under the scheme whereas as many as 14.83 lakh families were still left out to be brought under its ambit. It was decided that the issue would be taken up with the Union Health Minister J.P.Nadda to remove these restrictions and to cover the entire populace of the State under scheme soon.
As far as funding is concerned under the Ayushman Bharat, the State government was receiving only Rs. 50 crore per annum from the Centre, as fixed amount. Sh. Agnihotri said that the funds received from the centre have already been consumed during the first six months and the entire burden rests on the State government to bear the excess cost, which was likely to cross over Rs. 100 crore at the end of this fiscal.
The committee also decided to take up the issue of funding with the Union Health Ministry.
Secretary Health M. Sudha Devi, Director Health Gopal Beri, Director Medical Education Rakesh Sharma, Deputy Director Devinder Kumar and others were also present on the occasion amongst others.