Telangana Sets Up ₹240 Crore Corpus for Employees Health Scheme

The Telangana government has constituted a corpus of about ₹240 crore to implement its Employees Health Scheme, which offers cashless treatment at empanelled hospitals.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka informed the Legislative Assembly on Thursday that the scheme addresses a long-standing demand of employees for cashless medical care. A monitoring committee led by the Chief Secretary, with representatives of employees' associations, has been formed to oversee its rollout. Benefits include cashless treatment and medical services based on the CGHS package.

Alongside the health scheme, the government is implementing a ₹1 crore accidental cover for employees without any premium burden on either the state or the staff. The cover, described as the largest of its kind for government staff in the country, currently extends to 12.91 lakh people. This includes 5.18 lakh regular employees, 5.01 lakh staff on contract, outsourcing, work-charged and other categories, and 2.72 lakh pensioners and their eligible dependents.

The accidental cover was first launched in Singareni Collieries Company Limited, extended to power utilities last year, and later widened to cover all government employees. Since its launch, 33 claims have been received, of which 24 have been settled. The Energy department accounted for 15 claims, all settled and involving over ₹15 crore, while 50 claims submitted by SCCL were also settled.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the government held discussions with banks where employees' salaries are credited. Since banks benefit from their relationship with employees, agreements were reached for the banks to support the insurance scheme. As a result, neither the government nor the employees bear any cost towards premium payment.