2 fake Ayushman cards used in Bihar were issued in UP, Haryana: Official

PATNA: The two fake health cards used by two patients to undergo procedures funded under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in Bihar’s AIIMS were issued in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, a senior government official said on Thursday.

As first reported by HT, the fake cards were used by a 36-year-old Buxar Nagar Parishad employee, and a 58-year-old landed farmer from Bhojpur to get surgeries done at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at an approved cost of ₹2.4 lakh The farmer, who was suffering from cancer, later died.

“The National Health Authority, which maintains the portal and manages the implementation of the scheme, has confirmed that the two fake cards were issued from UP and Haryana,” said Alankrita Pandey, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bihar Swasthya Suraksha Samiti (BSSS).

Dr Gopal Krushna Pal, executive director of Patna’s AIIMS, said the hospital will recover the cost of the surgery from the authorities handling the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

“The cost involved for Avinash Kumar was ₹2,26,200 and ₹14,500 for Ashok Kumar Singh. We will recover the cost from Ayushman Bharat, which approved the procedures after we followed all necessary steps, including biometric authentication of patients,” Dr Pal said.

“We treated the patients only after obtaining necessary approval and clearances from the Ayushman Bharat,” added Dr Pal.

Alankrita Pandey, who is also joint secretary in the state’s health department, said the cost of treatment has to be recovered from the card creators concerned by their respective CEOs.

“On the basis of the findings by NHA, we will now write to the chief executive officers of the respective state health authorities to take action in the case, including recovery of cost for treatment,” said Pandey.

Officials said this was the state’s first reported case of fraud since the launch of the scheme in September 2018, in which alleged ineligible beneficiaries were able to get funding under AB-PMJAY, considered the world’s largest government-financed health insurance scheme funded by the central and state governments in a 60:40 ratio.

Under the scheme, beneficiaries, who are selected based on the deprivation and occupational criteria, get medical cover up to ₹5 lakh annually for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.

Over 10.8 million such families, covering around 55 million beneficiaries are in Bihar. The state, however, has issued only 7.8 million cards.

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