4 days ago
Health card has no use to employees, says JAC
Vijayawada: Leaders of AP JAC Amaravati expressed dissatisfaction that the Employees' Health Scheme (EHS), launched in 2013, has failed to deliver promised cashless, quality medical care to over 13 lakh government employees, pensioners, and their families in Andhra Pradesh.
At the EHS Managing Committee meeting on Tuesday at the NTR Aarogyasri Trust Office in Mangalagiri, AP JAC chairman Bopparaju Venkateswarlu and general secretary Palisetti Damodar Rao pointed out that delayed reimbursements to network hospitals force employees to pay out-of-pocket, leading to debt. They noted that the government reimburses only 30 per cent of medical bills.
Representing state government employees, the JAC leaders urged the government to ensure effective medical services under EHS. They called for quarterly EHS Managing Committee meetings at state and district levels to monitor progress and address grievances, online reimbursement for retired employees' medical bills to replace outdated offline processes, an increase in the medical reimbursement limit from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, free outpatient consultations and diagnostic tests at all network hospitals for EHS cardholders, special packages for the top 10 common medical procedures, and adoption of Ayushman Bharat standards for trauma and critical cases currently excluded from EHS packages.
The CEO of NTR Aarogyasri Trust, who chaired the meeting, assured the leaders that he would address these issues and organize an EHS Steering Committee meeting under the Chief Secretary's guidance soon.
