The government of Andhra Pradesh has at last agreed to hike the prices of all medical procedures up to 25 per cent covered under Rajiv Arogyasri healthcare scheme in the state.

After a long fight with the state government, the Andhra Pradesh Nursing Homes Association (APNHA) has finally succeeded in convincing the government to come up with a uniform hike in the prices of medical procedures covered under Arogyasri health scheme.

Earlier last month the Andhra Pradesh Super Specialty Hospitals Association and the Andhra Pradesh Nursing Homes Association had issued a notice to Arogyasri Health Care Trust, seeking to discontinue their association with the scheme as the price revision on 938 diseases, identified under it, was not carried out. Among the various demands by the Association, the uniform price hike for all medical procedures was on top priority.

Reckoning the demands of the doctors, initially the Arogyasri Health Care Trust in the state held a meeting with the doctors last week and agreed to consider a price hike of  40 per cent for only a few medical procedures and insisted to include 1000 more diseases to the existing list to be covered under Arogyasri scheme. At the same time the trust had also reduced the prices of certain procedures stating that those procedures were overpriced.

Having learned about the trust’s decision, the doctors indicated their displeasure and decided to go slow with Arogyasri patients and created more pressure on the government. In view of this the government convened another meeting with the doctors association. After deliberating on all issue, both private doctors and the Arogyasri Health Care Trust have finally agreed to a mutual price hike of 25 per cent on all medical procedures. Now, as they have agreed to the new prices, more than 1,000 diseases are being proposed for treatment under the scheme for the state employees.

Sources revealed that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Arogyasri Health Care Trust CEO N Srikanth had discussed the issue of the final price rise in terms of medical procedures and also the Employees State Insurance Scheme.

Dr Bhaskar Rao of APSSHA said, “Every patient has a different procedure and it can’t be cross-verified by a section of doctors and negated. It requires a consensus decision and that is important for the benefit of both the patient and the hospital.”