Agrahara to pay public servants hospital bills

by Ananda Kannangara

All Government servants in future will get an opportunity to admit to private hospitals by forwarding a letter given by the newly established National Insurance Trust Fund Board (NITFB).

Accordingly patients will not have to make any cash payment to hospitals at the time they seek admission as done at present.

The novel scheme to be implemented under the `Agrahara Medical Insurance scheme' (AMIS), the medical bills of patients will be paid by the NIFTB. The NIFTB has been set up in the Ministry of Public Administration under the supervision of Public Administration Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.

This decision was taken after a careful study of the poor financial position of a large number of public servants in the country.

According to the Public Service Trade Union Federation (PSTUF), the majority of public servants do not seek private hospital admissions through the `Agrahara Medical Scheme' as they cannot afford to pay the full medical bills at the time they are discharged.

"This prompted us to make a proposal to the NIFTB and according to the discussion we had with President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently, we are confident that we would be able to launch it before the end of this year," PSTUF, President W. H. Piyadasa told the `Sunday Observer' yesterday.

In addition to hospitalisations for various illnesses, reimbursements will also be made for surgeries, purchase of spectacles and other disabilities caused due to accidents.