Plea In Kerala High Court Seeks Implementation Of Revised Health Benefits Package Under Ayushman Bharat Yojana
Kerala's Private Hospital Association has moved the High Court seeking implementation of the latest National Health Benefit Package (HBP) 2.2, which has enhanced the rates of some health packages under Central government's flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).The plea states HBP 2.2 would provide better healthcare facilities to financially backward patients...
Kerala's Private Hospital Association has moved the High Court seeking implementation of the latest National Health Benefit Package (HBP) 2.2, which has enhanced the rates of some health packages under Central government's flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
The plea states HBP 2.2 would provide better healthcare facilities to financially backward patients and most of the states in India have already implemented yet, Kerala government has not taken any steps in this regard.
Justice Devan Ramachandran has sought instructions from both the Centre as well as the State government, the National Health Authority (NHA) and the State Health Agency (SHA).
AB-PMJAY provides health insurance coverage including hospitalization expenses, daycare treatment, follow-up treatments etc. to the poor and vulnerable families. In the year 2020, the Kerala government decided to implement AB-PMJAY as Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) and entered into an MoU with the NHA. The authority has made three revisions of package rates to the HBP - the latest one being HBP 2.2 released in 2021-22.
The plea avers that the new health package rates would cover more disease conditions and medical procedures but, the state government was still following HBP 2.0 in Kerala. Further, due to the non-implementation of the latest health package, private hospitals are facing various issues in rendering treatments to needy patients.
Additionally, the petitioners have also challenged the notification issued by the state government on November 15, 2023, stating that it will not be implementing the new Health Benefit Package in Kerala due to financial difficulties.
They also alleged that the state government has utilized the funds earmarked for the KASP Scheme by using it for other state government healthcare schemes.
“The state government on its part has unnecessarily converged and added beneficiaries of various other fully funded, State Government healthcare schemes like Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme and Karunya Benevolent Fund under KASP and utilized the fund of the Central Government and State Government earmarked for KASP. It is owing to the said reason that there is paucity of fund on the part of the State Government,” the plea stated.
The plea has been moved by Advocates K Anand and Ameer Salim.
Case title: Kerala Private Hospitals Association Vs Union Of India
Case number: WP(C) 40197/ 2023