VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government is set to roll out major reforms in the employees’ medical reimbursement system to make the process faster, transparent and completely paperless.
The initiative is aimed at reducing delays and eliminating the need for employees and pensioners to visit multiple offices for claim settlements.
The Health Department is developing a new online system that will handle the entire process - from submission and verification of medical bills to approval and payment - digitally.
The software is being developed by the Andhra Pradesh Centre for Financial Systems and Services (APCFSS) and will be integrated with the existing Nidhi portal, which contains comprehensive employee data.
Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav stated that the reforms are being implemented following the directions of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
He emphasised that the new system will ensure a hassle-free experience for employees by streamlining procedures and minimising manual intervention. The government has set a target to complete hospital registrations and related formalities by April 30.
Under the proposed system, hospitals providing treatment will directly upload medical bills and records to the Dr NTR Vaidya Seva Trust through a dedicated login facility.
After medical scrutiny by experts at the Trust, the approved bills will be forwarded to the concerned Head of Department (HoD) for administrative sanction, and subsequently to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) for payment processing through the online portal.
Officials said the reforms would significantly cut down processing time, as the current system involves both online and offline stages, leading to delays.
Pensioners, in particular, have been facing challenges as their reimbursement process is entirely manual.
The State currently has over 5.55 lakh employees and 2.32 lakh pensioners, with a total of around 24.33 lakh beneficiaries, including dependents, covered under the Employees Health Scheme (EHS). In the 2024–25 financial year, the government approved medical reimbursement claims worth Rs 232 crore.