Haryana Government raises dependents’ income limit for medical reimbursement

In a major relief for Haryana Government employees and pensioners, the state has increased the monthly income ceiling for dependents to be eligible for medical reimbursement from Rs 3,500 to Rs 9,000.

The Health and Family Welfare Department issued the notification on Monday, implementing a budget announcement that had remained pending for want of formal orders. The decision is expected to benefit around 4.5 lakh serving employees and pensioners.

According to an order issued by the Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, the income ceiling fixed in 2007 has now been revised. Under the new provisions, dependents earning up to Rs 9,000 a month will qualify for government medical reimbursement benefits.

The revised eligibility will cover dependent parents, children, legally adopted children, widowed daughters and dependent sisters, enabling more families to access government-funded medical treatment and reimbursement.

Although the notification does not specify the number of beneficiaries, Haryana has around 2.7 lakh to 2.85 lakh regular government employees across departments, boards and corporations. Contractual employees are generally not covered under the medical reimbursement scheme.

The state’s e-Pension portal currently lists 1,74,470 beneficiaries, including 1,27,465 pensioners and 47,005 family pensioners.

The government has circulated the revised orders to all Heads of Departments, Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, the Registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Accountant General and other authorities concerned for implementation.

Haryana School Lecturers Association (HSLA) president Satpal Sindhu, who had been pursuing the matter with the government since August 2024, welcomed the decision.

“Although the government had announced the enhancement in 2026-2027 state Budget in March, but the employees were denied benefit for want of notification,” he said.

Sindhu said the earlier income ceiling of Rs 3,500, unchanged since 2007, had become unrealistic.

“As the old-age pension reflected in the PPP data which is integrated with the health department record, the employees, who have aged parents living with them, were barred from claiming their parents’ medical bill reimbursement due to irrational income cap.”

He added that many pensioners also have unemployed or underemployed adult children earning modest incomes through part-time jobs, informal work or self-employment, who were unable to qualify under the previous limit.

The Health Department said the revision was made after obtaining the Finance Department’s concurrence on June 26, 2026, following which the fresh orders were issued.