Haryana raises income limit for dependents to claim medical reimbursement
According to a letter issued by Additional Chief Secretary of Haryana Health Department, the income limit fixed in 2007 has been revised.
Providing significant relief to its employees and pensioners, the Haryana government has raised the income slab required for the dependents to claim medical reimbursement.
The Health and Family Welfare Department issued orders in this regard on Monday that will benefit 4.5 lakh serving employees and pensioners.
According to a letter issued by the Additional Chief Secretary of the health department, the income limit fixed in 2007 has been revised.
Under the new orders, dependents of state government employees and pensioners with a monthly income of up to Rs 9,000 per month will be considered eligible dependents for claiming the medical reimbursement. Earlier, the ceiling was only Rs 3,500 per month, which excluded a large number of dependents from availing the facility.
The government’s decision is expected to particularly benefit those employees and pensioners whose dependents include elderly parents, children, legally adopted children, widowed daughters and sisters dependent on them.
The revised provision will enable more eligible families to avail government-funded medical facilities and reimbursement benefits.
Though the orders never stated how many would benefit from this move, in a broader context, there are around 2.7 lakh to 2.85 lakh regular government employees on the state payroll in various departments, corporations and boards. The contractual employees were seldom eligible for the medical reimbursement benefit.
Similarly, Haryana's e-Pension portal currently shows 174,470 pension beneficiaries, comprising 127,465 pensioners and 47,005 family pensioners.
The copies of the orders have been sent to all Heads of Departments, Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, the Registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Accountant General, and other concerned officials for necessary action.
Haryana School Lecturers Association (HSLA) president Satpal Sindhu, who had raised the issue prominently with the government since August 2024, said that the previous Rs 3,500 limit had remained unchanged since 2007 and had become unrealistic.
“Although the government had announced the enhancement in the 2026-2027 state budget in March, the employees were denied the benefit for want of notification”, he said.
Sindhu said that as the old-age pension is 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 an irrational income cap.
Many pensioners have unemployed or underemployed adult children earning small incomes through part-time jobs, informal work, or self-employment.
Meanwhile, the Health Department clarified that the decision was taken after obtaining approval from the Finance Department. The Finance Department had granted its concurrence on June 26, 2026, following which the revised orders were issued.
