Cashless medical facility for government staff

HYDERABAD: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has decided to provide comprehensive healthcare to all government employees, pensioners, and their family members on cashless basis. The government will introduce a new scheme shortly in lieu of the present medical reimbursement system, after finalising the contours for implementation of the new healthcare scheme.It may be recalled that the state government has recently promised its  employees to implement cashless medical treatment and replace the existing medical reimbursement system. For effective implementation of the scheme in a time-bound manner, the government held a series of meetings with the representatives of the Joint Action Committee of Employees, Teachers, Workers and Pensioners, and the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat Employees’ Coordination Committee on Thursday.It also constituted a committee with the commissioner of health and family welfare Y Srilakshmi as chairperson and the chief executive officer of Arogyasri Healthcare Trust as member-convener and other officials concerned as members to analyse all aspects of the scheme and make recommendations for its effective implementation. The committee will conduct a series of discussions with all the stakeholders including experts from the government and private hospitals, representatives of employees and pensioners, health economists, IRDA officials and insurance companies to consider all aspects of the scheme and make appropriate recommendations.Meanwhile, the government also directed Arogyasri authorities to issue health cards to serving and retired employees and families.