Srinagar, Mar 17: Patients across Kashmir, including those undergoing dialysis, staged a protest at Sher-e-Kashmir Park in Srinagar on Monday after private hospitals and dialysis centers in J&K halted services from March 15, severely affecting patient care.
The protesters urged the State Health Agency (SHA) to resolve issues with empaneled private hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), which have stopped services for the second time in two years.
Mohd Hussain Mir, a dialysis patient from Sopore, said that private hospitals and diagnostic centers stopped dialysis services on March 15, citing policy changes by the government.
“We were receiving dialysis under the Golden Card scheme, but now we are being denied treatment. I am poor and helpless. We are suffering badly,” Mir said, appealing to the LG administration to intervene.
Another patient, Khursheed Ahmad from Pulwama, said that while they had been receiving free dialysis in private hospitals under PMJAY, the services have now been discontinued.
“Private hospitals say the government has reduced the package rates for procedures by 10 percent. We have already exhausted our resources on treatment. Now, we cannot afford the cost,” he said.
The SHA finalized its decision on March 14 to reserve four surgical procedures exclusively for public hospitals under PMJAY, excluding them from private facilities. Additionally, the 10 percent package price that was previously applicable to private hospitals under HBP 2.2 has been removed.
Private hospitals and dialysis centers argue that the reduction in package rates has put them in financial distress. “This decision not only makes it difficult for us to continue services but also contradicts the Prime Minister’s vision of universal health insurance,” they said.
