India
oi-Vicky Nanjappa
New Delhi, Feb 09: While Central Government await news on the 7th Pay Commission,
the Supreme Court has said that a government employee cannot be denied Mediclaim, just because he or she choses a private hospital for treatment.
The court said that an employee or pensioner cannot be denied their share of Mediclaim even for receiving treatment outside the CGHS empanelled hospitals.
The reimbursement cannot be denied to a central government employee either during service or retirement if he or she does not seek treatment from a hospital that is not on the list of CGHS empanelled hospitals.
A Bench comprising Justices R K Agarwal and Ashok Bhushan said that the right to medical claim merely because of the name of the hospital is not included in the government order.
The court said that the government will have to verify that the claim being made by an employee or pensioner is in the record of the certified doctor or hospital or not. The Bench also said that the government can also verify if the employee or pensioner concerned have actually taken treatment or not and based on facts an employee or pensioner can be denied or granted Mediclaim.
The order was passed on a petition filed by a retired CG employee who had taken treatment from two private hospitals and sought reimbursement of medical bills.
