New app to ensure transparency, accountability in MJPJAY scheme: Abitkar
Maharashtra health minister Prakash Abitkar on Saturday said the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), Maharashtra's flagship health scheme, will soon undergo a major overhaul to bring in more transparency and accountability.
Abitkar said a mobile application is being developed to closely monitor private hospitals empanelled under the scheme. 'The app available from next month will allow patients and their families to directly file complaints about malpractice by hospitals. The complaints will be received and monitored by the health department for immediate action,' he said.
The state government in 2023 revamped the MJPJAY scheme making it universal and increasing the medical treatment cover from ₹1.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh per year per family. Currently, there are 1,359 private and 672 government facilities empanelled under Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and MJPJAY schemes in the state.
Abitkar said, 'We are determined to make the system more transparent. There will be major changes in the scheme, and even the packages will be revised, with a rate revision in some packages. Once the app is operational, hospitals will be held accountable, and patients can directly raise their grievances. If they exploit patients or violate the scheme's norms, action will be taken against them.'
According to officials, in the past five years, the government received 1,007 complaints about irregularities in hospitals under MJPJAY. Most of the complaints are regarding illegally demanding money from patients, even though treatment under the MJPJAY scheme is free.
Abitkar said that many times the complaints are not taken seriously or handled insensitively by the district coordinators of MJPJAY scheme. 'If the terms of the contract already state that no money should be asked of patients, how can hospitals do otherwise? It is unethical and illegal,' he said.
The minister said the mobile app will provide real-time information on hospital bed availability. 'When government systems work efficiently, hospitals will also be forced to follow rules properly,' he said.
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