Telangana: Govt hospitals draw more patients under Aarogyasri

Hyderabad: State-run super-specialty hospitals have started to get more patients and conduct a large number of procedures covered under the Aarogyasri health insurance scheme when compared to private hospitals.

The Aarogyasri health insurance scheme was always a domain of private hospitals, as their share of beneficiaries in percentage used to hover at around 70 while 30 per cent of beneficiaries used to avail healthcare facilities at government hospitals. However, according to reports, for the first time, government hospitals have increased their share of Aarogyasri beneficiaries to 60 per cent while the share of patients covered under the health insurance scheme at private hospitals has gone down to 40 per cent.

For instance, Aarogyasri beneficiaries at State-run Gandhi Hospital increased 3.3 times between this January and May. In January, the number of Aarogyasri cases at Gandhi Hospital was 650, in February it was 1,032, in March it increased to 1,277, in April 1,653, and by May the number increased to 2,162.

“Under Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s leadership, the public health facilities in Telangana are reaching new heights. The rise in Aarogyasri beneficiaries at Gandhi Hospital is an endorsement of the functioning of government hospitals in Telangana,” Health Minister T Harish Rao on Thursday, tweeted.