Govt to provide cashless health card to employees

SHILLONG, JULY 31: Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Monday informed that the government of Meghalaya is proposing to provide ‘cashless health card’ for government employees.

“So now the government of Meghalaya is preparing a new cabinet memo to present before the cabinet a cashless card for government employees,” Lyngdoh told reporters.

She said what happens in the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) list is that the central government decides on the slab for treating certain illnesses for government employees.

“So for the North East region, the Government of India had not revised its (CGHS) rates for a long time and it was the government of Meghalaya and few other states that highlighted this to the ministry requesting them to review the rates of the CGHS,” Lyngdoh said.

She continued: “For example, Central government employees already I think have something like a cashless card whereas we in the state of Meghalaya had not yet done it. We are getting there. We are preparing this and we hope that very soon, employees of the government, who availed reimbursement facilities will be able to do it shortly.”

The minister further stated that the government is in fact looking at Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) as an alternative source of assistance for government employees for reimbursement.

“So give the government a bit more time, we will brief you accordingly when our cabinet memo is ready and we will brief the citizens of the state of Meghalaya. But yes it is difficult because the CGHS rates for travel, rates for certain treatments are different for non-central organizations. So once we are able to understand this problem, we will deal with it and we will ensure that even government employees go cashless with a card for treatment,” she added.

By Our Reporter