HYDERABAD: Believe it or not, undivided Andhra Pradesh doled out over Rs 1,900 crore as reimbursement to 350-odd private hospitals empanelled under the Aarogyasri scheme in just five years from 2008-2012, says a new study published in the international medical journal Lancet.

In contrast, 150 Aarogyasri-empanelled government hospitals could claim only Rs 400 crore as reimbursement in the same period, a finding local experts said revealed how the scheme actually benefits the corporate hospitals.

The findings of the study, titled: “Use of major surgery in south India: A retrospective audit of hospital claim data from a large, community health insurance program”, by New Delhi-based George Institute of Global Health -- was released by a seven-member international team of experts at the Lancet Global Surgery Commission conference in London last week.

During the study, hospital records of 6,77,332 Aarogyasri beneficiaries, who got procedures done under the scheme, were audited.

The highest remuneration pocketed by private hospitals, include for procedures like mitral valve replacement (Rs 1,09,688 per surgery), coronary bypass surgery (Rs 93,570 per surgery), discectomy (Rs 35,518 per surgery) and hysterectomy (Rs 27,896 per surgery).

“We do not know exactly whether some of the surgeries were actually needed or not. However, we can definitely say that appropriate cost utilization studies are required to ensure there is optimum utilization of taxpapers’ money on Aarogyasri scheme,” said author Dr Vivekananda Jha, executive director of George Institute for Global Health.

Arogyasri is a state-funded insurance scheme covering population of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.