State widens Rs 5-lakh cashless health scheme net

The ambit of the cashless health scheme is set to widen in the state, with the government bringing more categories, including the families of the prisoners of the Emergency, under its purview.

Tweaking its flagship Comprehensive Cashless Health Facility (CCHF), the government proposes to provide a Rs 5 lakh cashless health coverage to families of the soldiers of the Indian National Army (INA), prisoners of World War II and families of the “Hindi Andolan”.

The Joint Chief Executive Officer of the Ayushman Bharat Haryana Health Authority, in an official communication to the Director of the National Health Authority, New Delhi, requested him to “grant approval and make necessary changes in the software for the inclusion of the above categories under the CCHF scheme.”

“The Government of Haryana has decided to extend the benefits of the CCHF scheme to the these categories. However, the beneficiaries shall be able to avail treatment only up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year,” the communication said, adding that they would be entitled to treatment in the general ward only.

The CCHF, which is currently being implemented by the Haryana Government for its employees and pensioners, is now sought to be implemented for these categories, too, as part of its social commitment, officials said, adding that a notification would be issued after approval from the Centre.

Regarding the primary objective of the CCHF, the officials highlighted that the main objective of the scheme was to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure by providing cashless healthcare facilities to the beneficiaries for all types of indoor treatments and daycare procedures through a network of empanelled healthcare providers approved by the Director General of Health Services.

Saying that the scheme would take care of the limitations of the current reimbursement and limited cashless scheme, the officials said the CCHF, backed with a robust IT-based transaction system, would provide the much-needed relief to the intended beneficiaries.