The Telangana State Government is renowned for running many health insurance schemes for its people. The Aarogyasri Health Insurance Scheme is one such plan, while Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is another.

Both schemes are aimed at providing health care for the economically challenged people in society. Similarly, there is the EJHS (Employees and Journalists Health Scheme) for pensioners, State Government employees, journalists, etc.

This article will discuss the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme, its eligibility, features, coverage, and registration methods in detail.

EJHS provides cashless treatment to beneficiaries. It was created to replace the previous medical expenses reimbursement policy. Additionally, this scheme also provides benefits for post-operative care and treatment of chronic diseases that do not require hospitalisation.

Aarogyasri Health Care Trust runs this project under the supervision of the State Government. Now that you know what the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme is, know more about its benefits.

Some of the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme’s features are as follows:

In-patient treatment

Listed below are some services available under the in-patient treatment. 

• Free in-patient treatment for a list of predefined therapies.
• Free outpatient treatment for an identical list of predefined therapies.
• Cashless service up to 10 days for post-discharge medications.
• Coverage of up to 30 days post-discharge for those undergoing treatment for any listed diseases.

Follow-up services

Additionally, if a person requires follow-up services in the form of drugs, consultation, investigation for a complete curative experience, he or she will get provision up to 1 year. There are fixed packages available for the same.

Outpatient treatment for chronic diseases

Moreover, the scheme provides treatment for chronic long-term diseases in specific hospitals.

Hospital stay provisions

This feature elaborates on the type of ward that is permissible for employees of different pay scales.

• Slab-A, consisting of employees with pay grades from I to IV, is applicable for semi-private wards.
• Slab-B, consisting of employees with pay grades from V to XVII, is applicable for semi-private wards.
• Slab-C, consisting of employees with pay grades from XVIII to XXXII, is applicable for private wards.

Financial coverage

Finally, here are some benefits of the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme.

• The Telangana State Government bears the full cost of implementing EJHS.
• There is no contribution required from the employees/pensioners.
• There is no upper limit on the financial coverage offered.
• The scheme covers the comprehensive treatment for the enlisted therapies.

These were some vital benefits and features of the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme.

The coverage of the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme includes:

• Entire monetary coverage for a specified list of therapies
• Further, employees/pensioners bear no cost
• No upper limit for claims
• Also, certain family members and dependents are covered under this scheme
• Claim follow-up services for one year such as investigations, drugs, and consultation

Above were the full Employees and Journalists Health Scheme coverage details.

In brief, below are the following persons who are not covered under EJHS:

• Anyone who is covered under other insurance schemes such as CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme)
• Employees working in Aarogya Sahayatha of Prohibition & Excise Department, ESIS, Railways, RTC., and Aarogya Bhadratha of Police Department.
• Law officers such as the advocate general, state counsels, state prosecutors,  government pleaders, and public prosecutors.
• AIS officers
• AIS pensioners
• All independent children
• Casual and daily-paid workers
• Biological parents

The eligibility of the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme is as follows:

1. Current serving employees

• All current State Government employees as defined by the fundamental rules
• Provincial employees of local government bodies

2. Retired employees

• All service pensioners
• Family pensioners without any dependents
• Re-employed pensioners from any government service

The term ‘family’ here means:

• Parents who are dependent, either adoptive or biological, not both
• Only one legally wedded spouse in case of service pensioners/employees
• Wholly dependent, biological, step and adoptive children
• Dependents of family pensioners

The term ‘dependents’ applies to the following:

• Parents who depend on the livelihood of the employee
• Unemployed, unmarried, divorced, widowed, or deserted daughters
• Unemployed sons below the age of 25 years
• Disabled offspring whose disability prevents them from gaining work

If you are wondering how to register for the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme, refer to the information below.

Employee registration

There is no registration process for current employees. Furthermore, the DDO (Drawing and Disbursing Officer) will provide employees’ data to the finance department via a CFMS (Comprehensive Financial Management System).

Lastly, they pass this information on to the Aarogyasri Health Care Trust. From there, the health cards are made available. Health cards can be downloaded and used by employees plus their dependents.

You can visit this link https://www.ehf.telangana.gov.in/EHS/loginAction.do?actionFlag=checkLogin to log in to your account and download the card.

Journalist registration

DPRO (District Public Relations Officer) performs the enrollment of the journalists into the EJHS.

Journalists working for the state can enroll in the following ways: 

• Step 1: First, submit an application to the DPRO (District Public Relations Officer). 
• Step 2: Next, IPRO (Informations and Public Relations Officer) will verify the information provided.
• Step 3: Lastly, a journalist’s health card will be generated.
• Step 4: Additionally, visit https://jhs.telangana.gov.in/login/newLoginTest.jsp to log in and download the health card.

Pensioners’ registration documents

Here is a list of the prerequisite documents for pensioners and retired employees to have before enrollment.

• Scanned copy of personal and dependent family members’ Aadhaar card.
• Scanned copies of both personal and dependent family members’ disability certificates, if any.
• ICAO mandated passport size snap of 45mm x 35mm of yourself and dependent family members. Snap size should not exceed 200KB.
• Scanned copies of spouse’s employee/pensioner’s ID if employed under the State Government or a service pensioner.
• Scanned copies of birth certificates of children younger than 5 years.

Pensioner’s registration process

The steps to register for the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme for pensioners/retired employees are as follows:

• Step 1: First, visit the EJHS portal https://ehf.telangana.gov.in/HomePage/. 
• Step 2: Following that, sign in from the top right-hand corner of this page, choosing the ‘Pensioners’ tab.
• Step 3: Next, log in with a personal username and password. Contact the STO (sub. treasury officer) or the APO (assistant program officer) if you do not have these details. Additionally, call the EJHS number 104, which is toll-free, to know your username and password.
• Step 4: Once inside your account, open the enrollment form.
• Step 5: Fill in mandatory fields such as head of the department, STO/APO, and district details.
• Step 6: Afterwards, upload every supporting document as mentioned above.
• Step 7:  Add corresponding beneficiaries, including dependent family members.
• Step 8: Subsequently, click on the ‘Save’ button.
• Step 9: Click on the ‘Submit Application’ button. You will receive an SMS on your phone with health card enrollment ID details. 
• Step 10: Next, download and print this application form.
• Step 11: Finally, sign the application form. 
• Step 12: Lastly, scan and upload the signed form.
• Step 13: Click on the ‘Submit Application for Approval’ button. 
• Step 14: You will receive an SMS confirming submission.

Now, you have to wait for approval by the STO/APO. When it has been cleared, pensioners will receive intimation that the health card is ready. Following this, you can download and use it.

EJHS-enrolled persons do not have to initiate any process to arrange the money. Thus, it is the network hospitals that raise claims with the Health Trust. Moreover, after 10 days from discharge, network hospitals can extend claims. Beneficiaries of EJHS need to take no step to claim Employees and Journalists Health Scheme dues.

In conclusion, EJHS is a health insurance scheme implemented by the Telangana Government for employees, pensioners, and journalists. It was introduced as a better method to disburse the health insurance claims made by employees.

Hopefully, now it is clear what is the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme and the Employees and Journalists Health Scheme benefits!