Cashless treatment upto Rs 1.5L for accident victims in Himachal Pradesh

In an historic step to provide medical aid to the people suffering injuries due to a road accident, the Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to implement the pilot scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims in the state under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The scheme has been formulated by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and is set to provide trauma care to accident victims without any upfront cost.

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The Himachal Pradesh Transport Department recently issued a direction to all top officers of the departments concerned, including the Director General of Police (DGP), Engineer-in-Chief, Directors of HP Public Works Department, Directorate of Higher Education, Directorate of School Education, Technical Education, and Deputy Inspector General of Police (Traffic Tourism and Railways), to implement the scheme.

As per the scheme, victims of road accidents involving motor vehicles on any road across India are eligible and nationality will not a limiting factor as any person injured in such accidents can avail of the benefits.

The scheme covers cashless treatment up to Rs 1.5 lakh per person per accident, for a maximum of seven days from the date of the incident. Treatment must begin within 24 hours of the accident to qualify. If the victim is covered under any other government health scheme, this scheme will take precedence.

Treatment will be provided only through empanelled hospitals, including those under the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY scheme. Hospitals can enrol via the Transaction Management System (TMS) using their unique Health Facility Registry (HFR) ID.

All empanelled institutions have been directed to adhere to guidelines issued by the National Health Authority (NHA) regarding admission, pre-authorisation and claim settlement for providing treatment.

The scheme will run on an IT platform developed by the NHA, enabling electronic tracking of patient and treatment records for transparency and accountability. The programme will then link the data of the Transaction Management System (TMS) of the NHA as well as the electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) app.