YSR Congress has sternly warned the coalition government not to dilute Aarogyasri scheme and privatize it by handing it over to insurance companies. Speaking to media former MLA Gopireddy Srinivas Reddy said Aarogyasri has been a welfare scheme which has become lifeline of the people and any attempt to dilute it would be met with high levels of resistance as the scheme introduced by Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy has been appreciated in implemented by various states in the country due to its worthiness and welfare.
Chandrababu Naidu trying to hand it over to private insurance companies would put poor patients into hardships as the welfare scheme works on their terms and the government will hardly have its say which disturbs the entire flow of medicare system benefitting weaker sections.
The coalition government which is unable to fulfill the Super Six promise would be found wanting in paying the premium to the insurance companies the most popular scheme would be watered down, he said adding that all stakeholders should be taken into confidence before making such drastic changes.
The Rs 5 lakh limit with the first Rs 2.5 lakh being paid by the insurance company and the remaining amount being paid the Aarogyasri Trust leads to confusion and the insurance company’s terms would be harsh on the people, he said.
People who need cochlear implant of heart transplantation have to wait for long and the functioning of insurance companies is never compassionate and always looks for rejecting the claims on flimsy grounds instead of being flexible.
He demanded that the Aarogyasri dues of Rs 3,000 crores to be cleared and retain the old system by regularizing them as the premium to be paid and the amount being paid under the scheme are nearly the same. The 10,032 village clinics are almost lying defunct with no medicines and move to privatize the 17 new hospitals shows the indifference of the government, he said.
