Rs 1.34 cr recovered as fine out of Rs 1.77 cr imposed
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Feb 20: Tightening the noose around the hospitals and other healthcare institutions empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the State Health Agency (SHA) has suspended the empanelment of 13 hospitals across J&K while imposing hefty penalties on 17 others in last one year for their involvement in frauds.
As per details available, more than Rs 1.77 crore has been imposed as a penalty on the hospitals involved in fraudulent activities in the year 2022 out of which over Rs 1.34 crore have been recovered so far by the SHA.
SHA’s State Anti-Fraud Unit conducts regular checks in this regard and notes wherever it finds discrepancies. The hospitals which have faced the action include Ibn Sina Hospital—it has been asked to pay a penalty of over Rs 24 lakh in October last year following which its empanelment was also suspended; Quality Care Hospital has faced 2 penalties, one in February last year amounting to Rs 1.84 lakh and then again in June last year, amounting to Rs 4.8 lakh.
Narayana Hospital, similarly, has faced three penalties in the last year. One in January, amounting to Rs 1.62 lakh, the second in October, amounting to over Rs 19 lakh, and the third one in December last year, amounting to over Rs 34 Lakh.
Ess Bee Hospital has faced penalty as well as the suspension of the empanelment in June last year and has been asked to pay a fine of Rs 3.3 lakh while the empanelment of the Waseem Memorial Hospital has faced suspension.
Further, Florence Hospital in Chanapora has also faced the action after the SHA authorities imposed a penalty of nearly Rs 5 lakh after it was found to be involved in fraudulent activities in August last year. Similarly, Shadab hospital has also faced a penalty of over Rs 22 lakh for violating the norms of the scheme.
Mohammadiya hospital too was also caught in the net, prompting the authorities to impose a penalty of nearly Rs 6 lakh. Kidney hospital in Sonwar, which is a renowned hospital, also faced three actions in one year which includes 2 penalties amounting to Rs 4.72 and Rs 14 lakh respectively. It also faced suspension of its empanelment in February last year.
KD Eye Clinic Hospital, as per the details available, has also faced a penalty as well as suspension and has been asked to pay the penalty of Rs over 1 lakh. ASCOMS in Jammu has also faced the music after the SHA imposed a fine of Rs 2.66 lakh, while Al-Noor Hospital, Midcity Hospital and South City Nursing Home faced the suspension of their empanelment in September last year.
Similarly, ‘Centre for Eye Sight’, empanelled under the AB-PMJAY, has also faced action from the SHA after it was penalized and asked to pay the penalty of Rs 1.64 in September last year followed by suspension of empanelment in December last year.
Noora Hospital in Umar Abad has also been found involved in fraudulent activities prompting the authorities to impose a penalty of Rs 5.54 lakh in October last year. In Jammu, again, Baba Nayak Hospital and Raksha Kidney Hospital has been asked to pay the fine of Rs 69000 and Rs 20 lakh respectively in October last year while National Hospital Jammu’s empanelment under the scheme has been suspended.
The officials said that there are clear-cut directions to keep a check on the hospitals and ensure that strict action is taken against the violators. More so, the SHA has also been told by the H&ME to strengthen the audit capacity of the State Anti-Fraud Unit by taking the necessary measures.
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