Ayushman Bharat Yojana: 200 UP Hospitals Fined For Irregularities, 800 Trained In Digital Health

The State Comprehensive Health and Integrated Services Agency (Sachis) in Uttar Pradesh imparted training to 800 National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (Nabh)-accredited hospitals in the state to enhance healthcare services and strengthen digital healthcare for beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). The scheme offers Rs 5 lakh in health insurance to eligible beneficiaries (people from the economically weaker section and all Indian citizens aged 70 years and above) for more than 1900 medical procedures during hospitalisation.

Meanwhile, it has also fined 200 hospitals for irregularities in scheme implementation related to medical procedures, issuance of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Card), and so on. Further, 48 hospitals have been suspended for violating the rules more than once, per a report by Jagran. The government fined these hospitals Rs 1.16 crore. According to the report, Rs 60 lakh has been recovered so far. For the remaining accounts, stringent measures are being taken, and payments to these hospitals have been frozen.

According to Archana Verma, chief executive officer of Sachis UP, there is a “zero tolerance” policy if a hospital or a medical facility is found to be involved in foul practices in the treatment of patients and billing for procedures.    

Efforts are being made to strengthen the monitoring system, and thus, fines have been imposed on hospitals. To keep the healthcare scheme beneficial for people, the quality of treatment cannot be compromised, she emphasised.

Note that with the recent addition of West Bengal under the scheme, Ayushman Bharat Yojana is now available in the country in all 36 states and union territories.

There is a total of 38,084 hospitals empanelled under the scheme, including 20,292 public hospitals and 17,792 private hospitals as of July 12, 2026. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of hospitals (6,228) empanelled.

Of the total 44.30 crore Ayushman Cards created so far, the highest number of cards has been created in Uttar Pradesh (5.885 crore cards).  

Reportedly, Verma said that Sachis is focused on building a widespread and strong network of hospitals that offer quality medical services instead of simply increasing the number of hospitals. To follow this, central government hospitals are also being connected under the PM-JAY network. Officials from the Health and Family Welfare Department are training the hospitals on the technical issues hospitals may face and how to handle the complaints under the scheme.  

The NABH-accredited hospitals are also being provided with incentives to maintain the quality. Effective monitoring is what is needed to make the scheme effective and achieve the quality of public healthcare that it aims for.