Not A Single Penny Diverted or Misused, Central Govt Owes Rs 249-Cr to Punjab Under AB-MMSBY: Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh

Setting the record straight on the Ayushman Bharat Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojna (AB-MMSBY), Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Balbir Singh on Tuesday made it clear that there has been no diversion of central government funds, and rather, the Central Government owes Punjab Rs 249 crores under the scheme.

The Health Minister was addressing a press conference at Punjab Bhawan here to clear all the facts about the AB-MMSBY so that people should know the truth.

Launched on August 20, 2019, AB-MMSBY (AB-MMSBY) provides an entitlement-based cashless health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. Punjab has made significant progress under the scheme, covering 44.99 lakh families and empanelling 772 hospitals - 210 public, 556 private, and six central government hospitals. The budget is shared between the Central and State Governments in a 60:40 ratio only for 16.65 lakh Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) families, while the state bears the budget for the remaining over 28 lakh families.

Dr Balbir Singh explained that the previous governments were running this scheme under Insurance Mode under which they used to pay premiums and on December 29, 2021, they abruptly cancelled the contract with the entrusted insurance company leading to chaos. “Our government has inherited the broken system and had to bring this scheme under the trust mode,” he added.

It is mentioned that the government of Punjab gets a share to the ratio of 60:40 percent for the 16.65 lakh SECC families and for the treatment under trust mode claims of approximately Rs 585 Crore raised under SECC families for which Centre Government has to pay about Rs 350.74 Crore against which State Health Agency (SHA) has received only 169.34 Crores under trust mode.

The Health Minister said that the amount of Rs 249.81 crores, which includes Rs 51.34 crores administrative charges and Rs 17.07 crore previous balance, is pending with the central government.

He informed that a team of senior officers from the State Health Agency had a meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda requesting him to release the instalment of pending payment so that we can pay to private hospitals. “Even, I’ve personally written to Union Health Minister JP Nadda, for a meeting to request him the release of pending payments but in vain,” he said.

He reassured that there has been no diversion of central government funds and all the funds are being utilised solely for public welfare.

The Minister attributed the delay in payment to hospitals to technical glitches after switching to new software launched by the National Health Agency (NHA) in February 2024. However, the State Health Agency took prompt measures to address the issue.

Dr Balbir Singh stated that the government will authorise private hospitals willing to do ‘Seva’ by providing treatment under the scheme. He also offered private hospitals, which are unable to provide treatment under this scheme, to opt out of this scheme.

He mentioned that the Punjab Government has been mutually cooperating with private hospitals in every aspect, whether it is regarding providing security or extending the validity of the fire safety certificate from one year to three years.