Most private hospitals decide to decline health cards

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 17: Most private hospitals in the State have decided to stop entertaining health cards––both PMJAY and CMHT, from the first week of August, 2026.
As such, a large number of people, particularly those belonging to economically weaker sections, who depend on these cards for medical treatment are staring at an extremely difficult situation.
Rejection of PMJAY and CMHT cards is a matter of life and death for many.
PMJAY covers treatment of all types of medical problems in private hospitals while  the scope of CMHT has been shrunk to only cancer, kidney problems, neurology problems and heart problems.
The decision of the private hospitals to stop entertaining PMJAY and CMHT cards stems from the Government’s failure to reimburse its share of the treatment costs owed to private hospitals.
Sources said that it has been over two years the Governments have not been paying their shares of medical expenditures promised under PMJAY and CMHT.
The two cards are a big help to kidney patients undergoing dialysis. The cost of dialysis fixed by the Government is Rs 2200. Patients with either PMJAY or CMHT cards need not pay any money for dialysis as the cost is borne by these schemes.
The sources said that the  Government owes over Rs 100 crore to private hospitals for the PMJAY and CMHT schemes.
On an average, around 300 people undergo kidney dialysis across multiple private hospitals in the State every day.
With the Government’s dues multiplying every month, most private hospitals sent written intimations to the Government in June last week and July first week unequivocally informing that they will stop entertaining both PMJAY and CMHT cards.
Notably, the MoU signed between the Government and private hospitals regarding implementation of CMHT and PMJAY laid down that the private hospital must inform the Government one month in advance if they are to reject               PMJAY and CMHT cards.
Now, the private hospitals are currently waiting for this one month before turning down the health cards.  
According to the same MoU, the Government’s share of medical expenditures borne by private hospitals under PMJAY and CMHT must be released every 15 days. In case, the Government fails to clear the dues within the stipulated 15 days, the Government should pay an interest of 1.5 per cent per month together with the due amount.
But these two points have been deleted from a new MoU drafted by the Government.
Talking with The Sangai Express, Babina Group of Companies CMD Thangjam Dhaballi said that the Government never adheres to the MoU.
The Government has not been clearing its dues even after 15 months, he said.
Even though the Government has not been paying its dues over the past two years, private hospitals have been entertaining the health cards in the interest of the people.
However, because of the Government’s failure to clear its dues over the years, private hospitals have fallen in a dire situation and the managements may not be able to run hospitals any longer.
As Babina Hospital is facing a situation of running into huge debts on account of the Government’s failure to clear PMJAY and CMHT dues, the hospital informed the Government on June 30 that it will stop accepting the health cards.
The same decision has also been informed to patients undergoing dialysis at the hospital, Dhaballi said.
For medical expenditures incurred under PMJAY and CMHT, the Government owes over Rs 20 crore to a single private hospital.
Strangely, the State Government released less than Rs one lakh when it owes over Rs two crore to a private hospital. In another case, a private hospital was paid around just Rs two lakh while the total amount indebted to the Government had crossed Rs 10 crore.
Earlier, the Government assured private hospitals all the overdue amounts would be cleared by May this year but the same assurance has failed to materialise till date.
If the Government clears at least 70 per cent of the overdue amounts, private hospitals may consider continuing with the PMJAY and CMHT cards. But the private hospitals no longer believe the Government will ever clear the dues, said the sources.
The Government has been requested to review the price tags given by PMJAY and CMHT but to no avail.
According to the health cards, the cost of child delivery through CS is Rs 15,000. But a Cesarean Section costs Rs 35,000 to Rs 60,000.
While the amount promised under PMJAY and CMHT does not cover the entire costs, the Government instructed private hospitals not to charge any money on the patients. This is nothing but strangulating the private hospitals, said the sources.
For PMJAY, 90 per cent of the total expenditures should be borne by the Centre while the State Government should pay the remaining 10 per cent.
The total amount indebted to the Central Government by private hospitals for PMJAY across the country is Rs 1.21 lakh crore.
Notably, PMJAY was launched by the Government of India on September 23, 2018.
The amount sanctioned by the Centre annually under PMJAY for Manipur is around Rs 31 crore but the total expenditures under the same scheme in the State runs to over Rs 100 crore in a year.
Association of Healthcare Providers, India (AHPI), Manipur unit president Dr Kh Ratankumar said that the    market shares of hospitals in the State shrunk by 40 per cent following the May 2023 violence.
The ongoing Kuki-Naga conflict has further reduced the number of patients, he said.
Dr Ratankumar said that many of the private hospitals have been struggling to survive by reducing the number of staff and introducing duty roster system etc.
It is a matter of grave concern that the Government has not been releasing the dues it owes to private hospitals under PMJAY and CMHT despite repeated appeals, he said.
Dr Ratankumar said that the private hospitals decided to stop accepting the health cards as the hospitals are now facing severe financial problems and struggling for survival.
Facilities already available at the private hospitals will remain but the benefits of CMHT and PMJAY will not be applicable anymore, he said.