Jaipur: The suspension of cashless medicines under Rajasthan Government Health Scheme by private hospitals continued on the second day of the strike observed by Rajasthan Alliance of Hospital Associations (RAHA) Thursday. Patients were directed to RGHS-empanelled chemists outside private hospitals.RAHA said hospitals and pharmacies were unable to continue the cashless medicine facility because payments had been pending for the past nine months. A RAHA official said reconciliation of dues remains unclear and no definite payment timeline has been communicated by the govt. With dealers and vendors beginning to halt medicine supplies, institutions now find it financially unviable to keep dispensing medicines without reimbursement.Despite this, the state govt maintained that the impact of the strike has been limited. Rajasthan State Health Assurance Agency CEO Harjilal Atal said payments to hospitals and pharmacies were being processed regularly. He said pending dues were being cleared in phases on priority basis.He mentioned that more than 43,000 transaction IDs were generated under RGHS on Thursday, a figure comparable to normal days.Officials said that even on Ramnavami, a festival holiday, around 600 patients received IPD treatment, about 1,000 availed day-care services, and nearly 23,000 received OPD consultation and treatment. This led to more than 24,000 hospital transaction IDs.In addition, over 19,000 invoices were generated by empanelled pharmacy stores. Combined, hospital transactions and pharmacy invoices crossed 43,000, which the department said showed that RGHS health services were continuing on a large scale despite the strike.
