Currently, the ESI Scheme is fully implemented in 443 districts, while it is partially implemented in 153 districts. A total of 148 districts are not covered under the ESI Scheme.
The decision to implement its health insurance throughout the country was taken in its 188th meeting held on Sunday, a labour ministry statement said.
ALSO READ: ESIC relaxes norms for availing health services in private hospitals in emergency cases
"It has been decided that the ESI Scheme will be implemented in the entire country by the end of 2022", it added. Adding more, the statement said that that those which are partially covered and not covered under the scheme will be fully brought under the ambit of the ESI Scheme by the end of 2022.
The medical care services will be provided through establishing new DCBOs (dispensary cum branch offices), by empanelling mIMP (Modified Insurance Medical Practitioner) and tie-up hospitals of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
Apart from this, the ESIC decided to set up 23 new 100-bedded hospitals across the country. These include six hospitals in Maharashtra at Palghar, Satara, Pen, Jalgaon, Chakan and Panvel; four in Haryana at Hisar, Sonepat, Ambala and Rohatak; two hospitals each in Tamil Nadu (at Chengalpattu and Erode), Uttar Pradesh (Moradabad and Gorakhpur) and Karnataka (Tumkur and Udupi).
ESIC will also set up one hospital each in Andhra Pradesh (Nellore), Chhattisgarh (Bilaspur), Goa (Mulgaon), Gujarat (Sanad), Madhya Pradesh (Jabalpur), Odisha (Jharsuguda) and West Bengal (Kharagpur).
Also, ESIC will open dispensaries at 62 places -- including 48 in Maharashtra, 12 in Delhi and 2 in Haryana. These hospitals and dispensaries will ensure the delivery of quality medical care to the insured workers and their dependents, the statement noted.
In the meeting, it was decide to establish Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Departments at three ESIC Medical College and Hospitals at Sanathnagar, Faridabad and Chennai. It will e the for the first time that such services will be made available at ESIC-owned facilities, it added.
ALSO READ: Covid-19: Centre announces more benefits via ESIC, EPFO for bereaved families
Among other details, the Ministry said two cath labs at ESIC Medical College and Hospital at Sanathnagar, Telangana and Alwar, Rajasthan will be established and upgrade of existing 200-bedded ESIC Hospital in Pune to a 500-bed facility will be done. This upgradation will benefit 7 lakh workers and their family members in Pune.
The ESIC in its meeting also decided to allow insured workers and their family members to avail cashless medical care services through Ayushman Bharat PMJAY empanelled hospitals in all the areas where the ESI Scheme is partially implemented or to be implemented, or where existing ESIC healthcare facilities are limited. The beneficiaries of ESI Scheme in 157 districts are already availing cashless medical care through this tie-up arrangement.
With agency inputs
