ESIC to provide free of cost medical care for subscribers at Covid facilities

ESI beneficiaries may also seek emergency or non-emergency medical treatment from tie-up hospital directly without referral letter. (Express file photo)

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) will provide free of cost medical care for its insured persons and their family members in its 47 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals.

“Presently 21 ESIC hospitals, run directly by ESIC, with 3,676 Covid isolation beds, 229 ICU beds and 163 ventilator beds and 26 ESI Scheme hospitals run by state governments having 2,023 beds are functioning as Covid-19 dedicated hospitals,” ESIC said in a statement.

Out of 151 hospitals, 103 ESI hospitals are run by states and the remining by the corporations itself. As of September 2020, ESIC had 2.94 crore insured persons.

The corporation also said that instructions have been issued to each of the ESIC hospital to function with a minimum of 20% of its bed capacity as dedicated Covid beds for ESI IPs, beneficiaries, staff and pensioners.

ESI beneficiaries may also seek emergency or non-emergency medical treatment from tie-up hospital directly without referral letter. In case the insured persons or their family members being infected with Covid-19 take treatment in any private institution, the reimbursement of expenditure may be claimed.

Also, in case the insured person abstains from work for being infected with Covid-19, he can claim sickness benefit for his period of abstention as per his entitlement. Sickness benefit is paid at 70% of average daily wages for 91 days.