Ex-servicemen health scheme limits priority treatment to veterans aged 75 years and above

Directive by ECHS — a govt scheme meant to ensure cashless healthcare for armed forces pensioners — comes amid reports of crowding at polyclinics in the wake of Covid pandemic.

Representational image | ECHS.gov.in

New Delhi: Only armed forces veterans aged 75 years and above and dependent women over 70 will now be accorded priority at Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinics. 

The announcement was made by the ECHS — a government scheme meant to ensure cashless healthcare for armed forces pensioners — in a directive issued on 17 November.

The move comes amid reports of crowding at ECHS polyclinics in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and demands for priority treatment from beneficiaries above the age of 60, the ECHS said.  

According to the directive, there have been some demands from veterans that priority should be accorded to all members of the ECHS above the age of 60, since they are considered senior citizens.

“The very purpose of priority will be defeated in case all are granted the same dispensation,” the new directive notes.

It adds that ECHS beneficiaries aged over 75 and women dependents over 70 will continue to be given priority at polyclinics, including for consultation, check-ups, and issue of medicines. Past directives regarding the treatment of senior citizens at ECHS polyclinics stand superseded, it says.

‘Crowding at clinics’

The ECHS provides allopathic and AYUSH medicare to ex-servicemen pensioners and their dependents through a network of polyclinics, service medical facilities, civil empanelled or government hospitals and specified government AYUSH hospitals across India.  

The scheme has been structured on the lines of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) to ensure cashless transactions for the patients. It is financed by the central government.  

An Army officer had told ThePrint in March that several polyclinics had stopped blood pressure checks, physiotherapy or dental treatments after the Covid-19 outbreak, and veterans had been directed to physically avoid coming to the clinic, barring emergency cases, to avoid crowding.

The same month, an ECHS directive issued stated that armed forces veterans suffering from various lifestyle diseases and undergoing long-term treatments can buy their April quota of medicines from any chemist shop, instead of visiting ECHS clinics, and seek reimbursement.