Does Aarogyasri Cover Skin Cancer Surgery — and Skin Grafts?

For most approved packages at an empanelled hospital, treatment is cashless — you should not pay for the core surgery, hospital stay or included medicines upfront. Costs can arise for items outside the approved package, such as a procedure added after surgery begins, or supplies the hospital marks as non-package. Ask the insurance desk for a written list of what is cashless and what is not before admission, so your family isn't caught off guard on discharge day.

Aarogyasri only pays for surgery at hospitals empanelled for that specific procedure, not every network hospital. A general surgery empanelment doesn't always include the skin cancer or reconstruction package. Before booking a surgery date, confirm with the hospital that they are specifically empanelled for wide local excision and grafting under Aarogyasri, and ask them to show you their approval status for that exact package. If they aren't empanelled for it, ask which nearby centre is.

Approval timelines vary by hospital and how complete the paperwork is, but most straightforward surgery packages are cleared within a few days once biopsy reports, scans, and the treatment plan are submitted. Cases needing additional approval, such as a lymph node dissection added separately, can take longer. If your parent's or partner's surgery date feels rushed, ask the hospital's Aarogyasri coordinator for the current status in writing rather than a verbal update, so you know exactly where the file stands.

If a graft fails to take and needs a repeat procedure, whether it is covered depends on how the hospital classifies it — as a complication of the original surgery, or as a fresh procedure needing new approval. Many empanelled hospitals absorb this within the original package if it happens during the same admission. If it happens after discharge, ask for it to be documented as a complication of the covered surgery, which can make the approval for a repeat graft faster.

Radiotherapy after skin cancer surgery is usually covered as a separate package from the surgery itself, so it needs its own approval once your oncologist recommends it. This is common when a squamous cell carcinoma has features that raise the chance of it coming back, such as positive margins or nerve involvement. Ask your surgeon to flag early on whether radiotherapy is likely, so the hospital can start that approval alongside your recovery instead of after a delay.

You generally cannot claim the same surgery under both Aarogyasri and a private policy at once; most hospitals ask you to choose one at admission. If Aarogyasri's package covers the full procedure, using it first can save your private policy's limit for other needs, such as ongoing chemotherapy or a later relapse. Tell the hospital's insurance desk about both covers at admission, and ask them to explain which option gives your family the fuller coverage for this specific surgery.