Government employees, under the Aarogyasri tariff, may not receive free health services. Representatives from AP Specialty Hospitals Association (ASHA) and AP Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (APNA) have informed the government that it not possible to provide government employees with health services at the tariffs provided under the Aarogyasri plan.

According to APNA general secretary Dr Krishna Prasad, salaried employees cannot be categorized as poor. State government employees cannot be given healthcare at Aarogyasri tariffs, he was quoted as saying to the media.

As per present tariffs, a general patient is charged Rs40,000 for a laparoscopic appendectomy in a semi-private room, while an Aarogyasri patient will just have to shell out Rs22,000 for the same.

Although Aarogyasri Trust officials requested ASHA and APNA to rethink their opinion, the associations are determined not offer services to government employees at such low rates.

The Aarogyasri tariff was scheduled to be implemented since April this year but doctors say there is yet no clarity on when it would begin to be implemented.

(AW: Sruthi)