TheVigilance Bureau of Punjab has registered a case against the nine big hospitalsof Jalandhar doing scams under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. It was almost 18months back when the bureau registered a case against the same but still, thecase has not reached any conclusion.
Aftercarrying out the investigation it was revealed that the Vigilance Bureau has madeall possible efforts from its side, but the case is at a halt because of thehealth department.
Then DGP-cum-ChiefDirector Vigilance Bureau B K Uppal said, “based on inputs received fromcredible sources, it has come to light that several well-known privatehospitals based in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, and Kapurthala districts haveprepared hefty fake bills in the names of smart card holders for theirtreatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme and took insurance claims from theinsurance firm.”
IFFKOTOKIO Insurance Company provides the claim to the hospitals for treating peopleunder the Ayushman Bharat Scheme and the hospitals are providing them with fakebills to earn hefty amounts of profits.
Accordingto the sources, Vigilance Bureau got the information that a scam is going onunder this scheme and when an investigation was carried out in this regard,they got the know that the hospitals are treating only one patient under thesmart card, but is mentioning that they have treated four more. This means thatthey were receiving claims for one genuine and 4 fake patients.
TheVigilance Bureau prepared a list of more than 200 such cases and initiated aVigilance Enquiry (VE) against the hospitals involved in the scam. To carry outfurther investigation Vigilance Bureau requested the government to assist the healthdepartment. Vigilance Bureau was latertold by the health department to provide them with all the cases and they willget them verified.
Now, ithas been more than a year that the bureau has received no follow-up or furtherinformation regarding the outcome of the expert opinion of the healthdepartment.
TheVigilance Bureau has queried about the same again and again but in vain. The inquiryhas now been at a halt.
Who isto be held responsible?
Reportedly,the investigation can be done further only when the health department of thestate will provide expert opinions on tainted claim cases.
As persources, the Vigilance bureau is keen to proceed further, if the healthdepartment provides an expert opinion on the tainted cases. VB used to taketechnically expert assistance in such types of cases.
HealthDepartment is seemed to seen favoring suspected hospitals. This scamis not only going on in Jalandhar but other parts of the state as well.
The reason for no development in this case is medical lobbying or is it the fault of the Vigilance Bureau working system?
Will the newly formed government take any step in this matter or not?
Thescheme has gone on hold in Punjab due to the long outstanding dues which thePunjab government has not cleared. Afterthis, all the private and government hospitals have denied providing treatmentto the patients under this scheme hailing from Punjab. There is a total of 60%of people in Punjab availing the benefits of this scheme.