What Aarogyasri Does Not Cover — for Skin Cancer Care

No. Aarogyasri pays the hospital directly for your approved skin cancer treatment, but not for travel, food, lodging or lost wages while you travel to Hyderabad for surgery, chemotherapy or follow-up. For families from a district or North Andhra Pradesh, repeat trips can cost more in fare and lost workdays than the medical bill itself. Ask your network hospital whether visits can be spaced out or some follow-up done closer to home.

No. Aarogyasri covers a bed in the general ward at your network hospital. A single, air-conditioned or deluxe room during surgery or chemotherapy admission is charged separately, and you pay the difference yourself. Ask the billing desk for the exact extra cost before choosing a room — it varies by hospital. The room type does not change the surgery or drugs you actually receive.

No. Aarogyasri covers surgery needed to remove the cancer safely, including medically necessary reconstruction like a skin graft. A later procedure done only to improve how the scar looks is considered cosmetic and is not covered. If scarring restricts movement, such as tightness near a joint, ask your surgeon whether that correction counts as functional rather than cosmetic — these are assessed differently by the scheme.

No. Follow-up scans and blood tests should be done at the same network hospital that treated you, to stay covered under Aarogyasri. A scan done at a private lab near home instead, even for convenience, is billed to you directly. Always check with the hospital's Aarogyasri desk before booking a follow-up scan elsewhere, so you know in advance whether it counts.

No. Aarogyasri pays the hospital for your approved treatment; it does not compensate you or a caregiver for income lost attending appointments, surgery or chemotherapy. For daily-wage families, this lost income is often the biggest real cost of treatment. Planning appointments around a caregiver's schedule, or shifting simple follow-up to a hospital closer home, can reduce workdays lost over the full course.

If your oncologist recommends a drug, scan or test outside your sanctioned package — a newer targeted therapy, for instance — you either pay separately or ask the hospital to request a package revision first. Do not start treatment outside the approved package expecting reimbursement later; approvals do not work backward. Confirm with your Aarogyasri coordinator in writing before agreeing to anything outside the package.