Finally, at long last, the KCR government has taken a key decision to include Covid treatment in the list of the diseases covered under Aarogyasri. Orders to this effect have been issued on Monday. Though the incidence of covid cases has come down considerably, this decision is likely to help the common people when the third wave strikes the state.
The AP government has already brought Covid under Aarogyasri. After that, the opposition parties in Telangana have put pressure on the TRS government to bring Covid under Aarogyasri in the state too. The government decision is likely to benefit many people. In the first and second Covid wave, countless people had to spend lakhs of rupees for the treatment of covid disease by getting admitted to corporate hospitals.
There was also widespread criticism of the Telangana government for not joining the Central government’s Ayushman Bharat. After great criticism, the State government had joined the Ayushman Bharat. Now the scheme would be known as Ayushman Bharat – Arogya Shri and would benefit a large number of people. With this, the number of diseases that have been brought under the Ayushman Bharat to 1668. Under Arogya Shri, each family will get a medical benefit of up to Rs 2 lakh per year. The limit under Ayushman Bharat is Rs 5 lakh per family per year. At a time when the medical treatment costs are hitting through the roof, the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Sri is likely to prove extremely beneficial to the poor and the marginalized communities.