The Telangana government has announced a significant relief for state government employees and pensioners, as preparations are underway to introduce a long-awaited New Health Scheme. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Employees Healthcare Trust chaired by Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is expected to formally announce the scheme, along with the Deputy Chief Minister, within the next fortnight. The initiative aims to provide enhanced medical services to lakhs of government employees, pensioners, and their dependent family members across the state.

The proposed scheme will cover Gazetted, Non-Gazetted, and Class-IV employees, along with pensioners. For its implementation, employees will contribute 1.5 percent of their basic pay, while the state government will contribute an equal 1.5 percent share. Officials estimate that approximately Rs 528 crore will be mobilized through this model, ensuring adequate financial resources for uninterrupted healthcare services.

Currently, the state has around 1.44 lakh employees and pensioners, along with nearly 12.84 lakh dependent family members, all of whom are expected to benefit from the new scheme.

The Employees Healthcare Trust will include six representatives from employees' unions and two representatives from pensioners' associations. A government employee will serve as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Trust. Any necessary amendments or policy changes will be discussed and approved in future trust meetings.

The new health scheme is likely to replace the existing Employees Health Scheme (EHS), which faced several operational challenges. Employees had reported difficulties in availing treatment at corporate hospitals due to delays in bill payments, leading to service disruptions. To address these concerns permanently, the government has decided to implement a trust-based funding mechanism with a cashless treatment facility.

Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao has directed officials to finalise the guidelines at the earliest to ensure smooth implementation of the scheme.