RGHS Update: Registration of New Hospitals Halted Amid Irregularities, Patients Face Hardship

RGHS Update: Major update in RGHS. In the Rajasthan Government Health Scheme, the registration of new hospitals has been almost stopped in the name of irregularities in the past few months.

RGHS Update: The Rajasthan Government Health Scheme (RGHS) has almost halted the registration of new hospitals in the name of irregularities over the past few months. Meanwhile, dozens of old hospitals and pharmacies have also been removed from the panel. Consequently, treatment options for lakhs of employees dependent on the scheme are rapidly shrinking. In the past few months, complaints of fake billing, arbitrary service charges, and alleged code-mismatch have increased within the scheme.

Department Not Processing New Applications

The department first issued notices to several hospitals, and then expelled many hospitals and pharmacies. The situation is such that many private hospitals have been on the 'approval list' for months to be included in the panel. However, the department is not processing new applications, citing proposed amendments in the guidelines.

Increased Distance and Cost of Treatment

For employees, the direct impact is that both the distance to treatment and the cost have increased. Government hospitals in major medical centres like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, and Udaipur are already overburdened.

New Registrations Halted - RGHS Officials

Officials associated with RGHS argue that new registrations had to be stopped due to improvements in rules and investigations into serious irregularities. However, hospital operators allege that the department has stalled the registration process under the guise of irregularities.

Patient Facilities Affected

The state government has been taking strict measures for the past few months to strengthen the scheme and prevent malpractice. Following this, more than 34 hospitals and over 430 pharma stores, totalling 450, have been removed from the scheme in three months, limiting patient convenience.

Amidst so many being removed from the scheme, permission to add new hospitals to the scheme has been restricted. Due to this, many eligible hospitals are also unable to join the scheme.