The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW), through an Office Memorandum, said the move has been undertaken in collaboration with the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) to simplify the application process and enable quicker access to CGHS healthcare benefits after retirement.
The integration is aimed at reducing paperwork, cutting processing time and minimizing manual intervention while providing a seamless digital experience for retiring employees.
What changes for retiring employees?
Under the integrated workflow, pension-related information already approved and available on the Bhavishya portal will be automatically fetched to pre-fill the CGHS pensioner card application. This is expected to reduce duplicate data entry and lower the chances of errors.
The government has also designated the Permanent Account Number (PAN) as the unique identifier for real-time validation and exchange of data between the CGHS online system and the Bhavishya portal.
Once the Head of Office verifies the pension forms, the Pension Payment Order (PPO) is generated, and the retiring employee pays the prescribed CGHS contribution through the integrated BharatKosh payment gateway, the CGHS pensioner card will be generated digitally.
The approved CGHS pensioner card can then be downloaded from both the CGHS portal and the Bhavishya portal.
Existing process to continue
The ministry clarified that the integrated system is an additional facility and does not replace the existing online application process.
Retiring Central government employees can continue applying for CGHS pensioner cards directly through the CGHS portal or choose the new integrated route through the Bhavishya portal, depending on their convenience.
Why it matters
The government said the integration is expected to reduce procedural delays, eliminate repetitive documentation and ensure that eligible retirees receive access to CGHS healthcare benefits without unnecessary delays after retirement.
The ministry has asked all Central government ministries and departments to inform employees approaching retirement about the new facility to encourage wider adoption.
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