Health is an extremely important aspect of every person’s life. No one knows when a health emergency may come in life. Therefore, to avoid such uncertainties, people prepare in advance. In today’s era, most people get health insurance, so that they do not have to face any kind of problem in the future. However, the people who work under the Government of India in the country are provided the benefit of special health facilities by the government.
For this, the Central Government runs the ‘Central Government Health Scheme’ (CGHS), under which lakhs of central employees and pensioners of the country get unprecedented benefits. Now the government is going to make some big changes to this scheme. Let us know how much and how the employees and pensioners will benefit from these changes.
There will be major changes in the Central Government Health Scheme
About 1 crore central employees and pensioners in the country get the benefit of health facilities through the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). This scheme was started by the Government of India in the year 1954 and now it provides its facilities in more than 80 cities of the country. The cashless treatment facility is available in Empanelled Hospitals through this scheme.
It includes about 1500 government and private hospitals and dispensaries in the country. Apart from this, cheap medicines are also made available under the CGHS scheme, which reduces the burden of health expenses.
Recently, big news related to this scheme has come to the fore. Large-scale changes can be made in this scheme by the government. These changes include addressing the shortage of staff, ensuring the availability of medicines, and adding more private hospitals for subsidized treatment. If these changes are implemented, crores of central employees and pensioners will get tremendous benefits, making their health care even easier.
Possible changes and their benefits
Let’s take a look at these possible changes and their direct benefits:
New Wellness Centers will be opened
Many new wellness centers can be opened under the CGHS scheme. These include cities like Pune, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Balasore, Chennai, Puducherry and Jammu. These new centers will provide health facilities close to home to the employees and pensioners living in those areas so that they do not have to travel far.
Staff shortage will be overcome
Apart from these new wellness centers, the recruitment process will also be started through the Staff Selection Commission to overcome the shortage of staff in the rest of the wellness centers of the country. The shortage of doctors, nurses, and other staff in CGHS dispensaries often causes trouble for patients. This recruitment will overcome the shortage of staff and patients will be able to get better and faster service.
Delays in Medical Refund Claims to End
It has been seen many times that pensioners are delayed in getting medical refund claims, due to which they have to face financial trouble. Now this problem will also be fixed. The government can make such arrangements so that the claim settlement can be done quickly and timely, which will provide financial relief to the pensioners.
More Private Hospitals to be Empanelled
More private hospitals can be linked to CGHS for subsidized treatment. This will provide patients with more options for treatment and they will be able to get better treatment in the hospital of their choice. This will be especially beneficial in cities where government CGHS facilities are limited.
Improvement in Medicine Availability
Improvement in the availability of medicines in CGHS dispensaries is also an important potential change. This will ensure that patients get the necessary medicines easily and on time so that there is no hindrance in their treatment.