Pending Bills: AP Hospitals will soon fall short of Cotton to Dettol!

Close on the heels of the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) serving red notice to the Andhra Pradesh Medical Supplies and Infrastructure Development Corporation for non-payment of bills worth thousands of crores, Hyderabad-based Twin Cities Hospitals Suppliers Association also wrote similar letter to its members that there are pending bills worth Rs 200 crore relating to ESI hospitals in the state and hence, stop supplying medical devices and equipment to AP ESI hospitals.

The letter also stated that members wanting to supply material to AP hospitals can go ahead and do it at their own risk. It cautioned the members to supply material and devices to AP hospitals by taking money in advance.

If the Association members really stick to their word, the AP hospitals will soon fall short of cotton, tincture, syringes and Dettol too.

There are allegations that the YCP government is diverting funds released by the Centre towards the ESI bills. The Association also mentioned that the state authorities were not responding even when they were asking for payment of the pending bills. The Association said that they were facing trouble from Director of Insurance Medical Services (DIMS) in clearing the bills.

It is learnt that the TSHA authorities sought appointment of the concerned officials to represent the problem but failed to even get it several times. The Association is also planning to take the issue to the notice of the Prime Minister’s office.

The DIMS keeps releasing bills every 6 months to the ESI hospitals. Even this year, DIMS released Rs 92 crore but only bills worth Rs 50 crore have been put in the process.

Usually, medical bills of ESI hospitals are paid through green channel to avoid delay in the processing but the TSHA’s pending bills Rs 200 crore had not been paid for the last six months.

Looks like the YCP government is heading towards a deep financial crisis. It has to be seen how CM Jagan would handle the issue.