E-Paper
Do you know EPFO allows withdrawal of funds for medical emergency? Details here
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) permitted this facility, citing that in life-threatening diseases, most of the times, a patient has to be hospitalised on a priority and getting an estimate from the hospital becomes difficult in such situations.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in May stated in an official release that its members can withdraw funds of up to ₹1 lakh for medical emergency and hospitalisation from serious life-threatening diseases, including Covid-19.
Notably, medical advances earlier could only be withdrawn after the estimates were provided by the hospital. In the release, EPFO stated that in case of life-threatening illnesses, it becomes “imperative to get the patient immediately admitted in hospital on emergency to save his/her life and it is not possible to get the estimate from hospital in such serious situations.”
The EPFO mentioned in the release that a lump sum medical advance of up to ₹1 lakh can be granted by the authority for withdrawal without the need of an estimate from the hospital or documentation.
Here are the steps to follow to get medical advances from EPFO:
6. Go to the official website of EPFO at epfindia.gov.in
7. Enter your UAN, password, and captcha details to log in to your account.
8. Navigate to the ‘Online Services’ tab, and click on ‘Clam (Form-31, 19,10C & 10D)’ option.
9. A new page will open, where one needs to verify their bank account information that is linked to the UAN. All the terms and conditions must be read and accepted.
10. After this, click on ‘Proceed for Online Claim’, and select ‘Medical emergency’ from the withdrawal applying options.
Important points to be noted:
5. Those applying to avail of the facility must remember that medical advances can only be claimed by employees covered under CS(MA) rules and also those under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).
6. This facility is typically available for patients admitted in a government or Public Sector Unit (PSU) or CGHS-empanelled hospital for treatment of the disease. However, in case the patient is admitted to a private hospital then the case shall be gauged by the competent authority of the EPFO to decide if the medical advance needs to be rendered.
7. An employee must submit medical bill within 45 days from the date of discharge from the hospital.
8. The medical advance can either be credited to the salary account of the employee or to the concerned hospital where the treatment is taking place, depending on the discretion of the family members.
