Gurgaon: Private hospitals have once again threatened to stop admitting new patients under the Ayushman Bharat scheme from June 5, escalating a standoff that could hit thousands of poor beneficiaries dependent on cashless treatment.The warning from Indian Medical Association (IMA) has brought back into focus a festering dispute over delayed reimbursements, mounting unpaid claims and a “collapsing” claims-processing system.In a letter sent to the chief executive officer of the Ayushman Bharat Haryana Health Protection Authority (HHPA) in Panchkula on Friday, IMA said empanelled private hospitals would stop fresh admissions under the scheme from midnight of June 5 if pending issues were not resolved. Haryana has around 1,300 hospitals under Ayushman Bharat, nearly 650 of them private.The latest threat comes only weeks after a similar protest in April, when the association had pegged pending dues at around Rs 400 crore and said claims dating back to Sept 2025 remained unpaid. According to IMA Haryana president Sunila Soni, some payments were released after that agitation and dues till Feb were cleared, but reimbursements have slowed again, pushing pending claims back to an estimated Rs 300-400 crore.The association said officials had assured hospitals during an online meeting on April 16 that most payments would be cleared before the next review, but alleged that the promise was not honoured. It also flagged unpaid claims despite updated queries, pending TMS-1 cases, deductions in recently settled claims and “missed” TMS-2 cases.IMA said claims that should be processed within 15 days under the MoU are now taking three to five months. It blamed staff shortages, technical changes in the TMS-2 portal, delayed grievance hearings and scrutiny by the SAFU wing. The body also alleged that clerical errors were being treated as fraud in some cases, exposing hospitals to de-empanelment.Doctors said repeated payment disruptions were making it difficult for hospitals to continue under the scheme and advised units unable to bear the burden to surrender empanelment. HHPA, however, said payments were being processed continuously, substantial dues had been cleared and delays were linked to medical scrutiny and audit under National Health Authority guidelines.
