The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday issued orders to include 87 new medical procedures exceeding the treatment cost of Rs 1,000, in the pilot project being carried out by the YSR Aarogyasri Health Care Trust. The Trust handles the state government’s health insurance program for individuals and families with low income.
With the newly included procedures, the pilot project is also being extended beyond West Godavari to six more districts -- Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool and Kadapa. These newly-introduced procedures fall under various categories, including pediatric surgeries, genitourinary surgeries, and various other procedures related to cardiology, nephrology and pediatrics.
According to the orders issued on Thursday by the Special Chief Secretary (Health) K S Jawahar Reddy, a pilot project which included 1000 new procedures exceeding treatment cost of Rs 1,000 was implemented starting in January in West Godavari district. After reviewing the pilot, the Trust in consultation with specialists decided to include the additional 87 procedures.
Of the 1000 procedures part of the West Godavari pilot project, 200 procedures have already been included in all the other districts. Therefore, the pilot in the six districts will include 887 new procedures — 800 of the 1000 procedures already piloted in West Godavari as well as the 87 new procedures.
Speaking with officials while announcing the extension of the pilot, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the state will introduce a grading system for hospitals, along with the revamping of government hospitals under the Nadu-Nedu scheme. He also stated that the government will soon establish 13,000 YSR village clinics, with 54 types of medicines and one ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) for expanding healthcare services in rural areas.
CM Jagan also instructed District Collectors to create awareness about what people must do if they show suspected COVID-19 symptoms. He said that people should know where the COVID-19 testing centres are.