The Uttarakhand Government has removed the compulsion of referral from a Government hospital to a private empanelled hospital under the Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana (AAUY).  

The golden card holders of the scheme can now directly get admitted in any empanelled hospital (both Government and private). This important decision was taken by the State Cabinet in its meeting held at the State secretariat on Friday.

Making another important change in the prevailing AAUY, the State Cabinet gave its approval for inclusion of 2.5 lakh strong serving and retired government employees.

The employees would now get an unlimited cashless cover in any empanelled hospital under the scheme.  As there was no official information about the scheme because the Budget session of the Uttarakhand assembly is notified, it is learnt that the State Government has abolished the existing ‘state health agency’ (SHA) which was overseeing the AAUY and setup a new State Health Authority. Former chief secretary, D K Kotia would head the new authority.

The State Government has also decided to set up ten call centres which would operate 24x7 for answering the queries of the patients.

Accepting the long pending demands of the employees for cashless health care facility, the cabinet decided that a monthly premium for the scheme would be deducted from their salaries.

The employees falling under I to V salary scale would have to pay a monthly premium of Rs 250 while those in scale VI would pay premium of Rs 450 per month. Similarly, the employees having scales VII to XI would have to pay a monthly premium of Rs 650 and those in the scales XII and above would have to shell out Rs 1000 every month.

It is also learnt that on the request of the State Government, the Union Government has given its approval for merger of the centrally funded Ayushman Bharat Scheme with the AAUY of Uttarakhand Government.

 It is pertinent mention here that 5.37 lakh families are covered under Ayushman Bharat scheme of Union Government while the remaining 23 lakh families are covered under AAUY. The Central Government has also increased its allocation for the scheme from existing 14 percent to 30 percent.

Launched on December 25, 2018, the AAUY provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per annum to all 23 lakh families of Uttarakhand in the panelled hospitals under the scheme. The scheme is considered as a dream project of Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. A total of 101 government and 74 private hospitals so far have been included in the panel for the scheme.

The decision of the cabinet to provide cashless cover enthused employee organisations. The general secretary of the Rajya Kramchari Sanyukt Parishad, Arun Pandey said that the employees were demanding this benefit from last ten years. He thanked the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat for the decision.