CGHS to open its doors to senior citizens

From September 1, the doors of 20 Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) wellness centres in Delhi will be thrown open to senior citizens from among the public for free consultation.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today unveiled a pilot project to make the facility available to senior citizens.
There has been widespread criticism of the closed door policy of CGHS towards people who were in need of medical help but were not family members of central government employees.
"This is a pilot project for now. We will see how much demand accrues for the CGHS clinics and the ability of the clinics to handle demand from the general public before extending the service to more people in more cities," Vardhan said.

The service for senior citizens will be available on all working days between 1.30 PM and 3 PM. They will, however, not be given free medicines which is only for central employees.
The Minister ordered that all information regarding pending medical claims for more than 30 days be put on the website as over the years complaints have been pouring over the process of reimbursing claims.

There were also complaints of CGHS doctors prescribing branded drugs beyond the approved list. Taking all factors into consideration, it has been decided that all beneficiaries and public need to know which drugs are on the list, he said.

Vardhan made it clear that henceforth only 1,447 generic and 622 branded medicines will be prescribed.
Additionally, it has been decided that CGHS beneficiaries will be provided with medicines for a maximum of one month. In case they are going abroad for extended periods, the medicines will be given for three months, he informed.
The CGHS doctors have been asked not to prescribe investigations or implants that are not listed.
"I encourage people, especially the media, to probe our affairs so that over time the employees realize the futility of trying to be corrupt. In addition, I will use information technology to prevent corruption at source," the Health Minister stated.