look news india
There is a relief and important news for lakhs of ex-servicemen and their families of the country. The government has made a major change in the rates of treatment available under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). Now the cost of treatment in ECHS empaneled private hospitals will be decided according to the new rate list of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).
The Health Ministry has issued its notification and these new rates will be implemented in the entire country from December 15, 2025. Lakhs of ex-servicemen families will directly benefit from this change, because now OPD, hospitalization, medicines and bill refund, everything will be under a new and transparent system. Cashless treatment facility will continue as before.
Now the city and hospital will decide the cost of your treatment
Earlier the treatment rates were almost the same across the country, but now a big change has been made in it. Now the cost of treatment will depend on two main things:
- In which city is the hospital?
- How is the quality of the hospital?
Cities were divided into three parts:
The government has divided the cities of the country into three categories for treatment rates:
- Tier-1 (Big Cities): In big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, full i.e. 100% rate of treatment will be available.
- Tier-2 (Medium Cities): In these cities, payment will be at 10% lower rate than big cities. (North-eastern states, Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh have also been kept in this category.)
- Tier-3 (Small Cities): Here payment will be made at 20% lower rate than big cities.
This means that now the cost of treatment in Delhi will be different from that in Guwahati or any small city.
Bill will also change according to ward
Now the price of treatment will also depend on which ward the patient has got.
- General Ward: 5% less than normal rate.
- Semi-Private Ward: Normal (Base) Rate.
- Private Ward: 5% more than the normal rate.
Hospitals will be able to generate bills only according to the category of ward recorded in the ECHS card. However, the prices of services like OPD, special tests and day-care will remain the same for all wards.
Good hospitals will be rewarded, those with poor quality will be controlled
The government has also taken a big step to promote the quality of treatment.
- Quality Accredited Hospitals: They will get 15% more money.
- Unrecognized hospitals: They will be paid 15% less than the fixed rate.
This change was also necessary so that the entire system could be made more transparent and systematic. Now every patient and hospital will have a clear idea of what the cost of treatment is, in which city, in which ward and for which type, which will make it easier to get treatment.