Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
Cancer surgery under Ayushman Bharat | CION Cancer Clinics
Yes, Ayushman Bharat covers cancer surgery. It pays a network hospital a fixed package for a listed operation, cashless, and the family is not billed for anything inside that package. In Telangana it runs alongside Aarogyasri through the same scheme desks. You need a valid card, the diagnosis reports and a pre-authorisation before a planned operation. This page explains who is listed, how the route works and what usually falls outside. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
MM
Medically reviewed by Dr. Muralidhar MuddusettyConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- Does Ayushman Bharat cover cancer surgery?
- How do you actually get an operation done under the scheme?
- What sits inside the package, and what usually does not
- Ayushman Bharat and Aarogyasri, compared
- Four things families tell us about the card, and what is true
- The words you will hear at the scheme desk, in plain language
- What this page cannot tell you
- Common questions about Ayushman Bharat and cancer surgery
The short answer
Does Ayushman Bharat cover cancer surgery?
Yes. Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY covers cancer surgery as a listed package at any hospital on its network, and the family is not billed for anything inside that package. The cover is up to five lakh rupees for the whole family in a year, and it is cashless.
How it works in Telangana
Telangana runs PM-JAY together with its own Aarogyasri scheme. One trust handles both, the same network hospitals accept both cards, and the scheme desk inside the hospital sorts out which one pays. What you need is a valid card, the diagnosis reports and a pre-authorisation before a planned operation.
Who it is not for
The card is issued to families on the national eligibility list, and since 2024 to everyone aged seventy and above regardless of income. If your family is not listed and nobody in the household is over seventy, you cannot apply your way in. A hospital that is not on the network cannot bill the scheme at all.
Check whether your family is listed on the official PM-JAY site or app, or at the scheme desk of any network hospital. Take the ration card and the patient's Aadhaar.Step by step
How do you actually get an operation done under the scheme?
Confirm the card
Find out whether the patient is listed and get the Ayushman card made if it has not been. The scheme desk at a network hospital can do this on the spot with Aadhaar and the ration card. Do it before the first surgical appointment, not after.
Go to a network hospital
Only a hospital empanelled under the scheme can treat you on it. Ask the front desk directly whether they are on the PM-JAY and Aarogyasri network for surgical oncology. The answer is yes or no, and it should not take a day to get.
Pre-authorisation
The surgeon writes up the diagnosis, the reports and the planned operation. The scheme desk uploads it and the trust approves a package code. This is the step that takes time. Nothing planned happens in theatre until the approval comes back.
The operation and discharge
Once approved, the operation, the bed, the theatre, the anaesthesia and the routine medicines inside the package are paid by the scheme. At discharge you sign the scheme papers and should be handed a summary showing a nil bill for the package items.
What is paid for
What sits inside the package, and what usually does not
A package is a fixed amount for a named operation. It is better to know what falls outside it before admission than at the discharge counter.
Inside: the operation itself
The surgeon and anaesthetist, the theatre, the bed for the expected stay, nursing, routine medicines, dressings and the usual blood tests around the operation.
Often outside: the run-up
Scans and tests done before admission to reach the diagnosis are sometimes paid separately or by another package. Ask whether the PET-CT, the biopsy and the fitness tests are being billed to the scheme or to you.
Sometimes outside: implants and consumables
A mesh, a stapler cartridge, a special drain or an implant may or may not be inside the package code that was approved. If the surgeon expects to use one, the desk should say now whether it is covered.
If you are asked to pay for an item, ask for it in writing.Outside: the family's own costs
Travel, an attendant's food and lodging, a longer stay than the package expects, a private room upgrade and most medicines after discharge are not scheme items. Budget for these yourselves.
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Side by side
Ayushman Bharat and Aarogyasri, compared
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY
Aarogyasri (Telangana)
A national scheme run by the National Health Authority
A state scheme run by the Aarogyasri Health Care Trust
Eligibility from the national list and the over-seventy rule
Eligibility from the Telangana food security or Aarogyasri card
Portable: a card from another state works at a network hospital in Hyderabad
Meant for Telangana residents at Telangana network hospitals
Package amounts set nationally, with state top-ups
Its own package list, often wider for cancer
Commonly believed
Four things families tell us about the card, and what is true
"The card only works at government hospitals."
It works at any hospital on the network, and many of those are private. What matters is whether the hospital is empanelled for the surgery you need.
"We have to pay first and claim it back."
No. The scheme is cashless. The hospital is paid by the trust for the approved package, and you should not be asked for a deposit against package items. If you are, ask the scheme desk to explain in writing what the deposit is for.
"Cancer surgery is too big for the scheme to cover."
Cancer operations are listed packages under both PM-JAY and Aarogyasri. What it may not stretch to is a whole year of treatment around the operation, which is why the ceiling still matters.
"Someone at the desk can get us on the list for a fee."
Nobody can. Eligibility comes from a fixed list and the age rule. Anyone offering to add your family for money is taking your money. If you are not listed, ask about the other routes on this site.
On the card and the papers
The words you will hear at the scheme desk, in plain language
- Empanelled hospital
- A hospital that has signed up with the scheme and can bill it, sometimes for some specialities and not others.
- Pre-authorisation
- Approval from the trust for a named operation before it happens. Without it the hospital cannot bill the scheme for a planned surgery.
- Package code
- The line in the scheme's list that names the operation and the fixed amount paid for it. It tells you exactly what is included.
- Arogya Mitra
- The scheme helper stationed at the hospital, who checks the card, uploads the papers and follows up the approval.
- Family floater
- One amount of cover shared by the whole family for the year, not an amount per person. A second illness draws from the same pool.
- Portability
- A card issued in one state can be used at a network hospital in another. This matters for families who travel to Hyderabad.
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
This page cannot tell you whether your family is listed, whether a particular hospital is on the network this month, or whether the exact operation your surgeon is planning has a package code. Those three answers come from the scheme desk, in one visit, with the card and the reports.
It cannot tell you whether to have the operation
Whether surgery is the right step is a question for the treating team, weighed against the type of cancer, its stage (how far it has spread) and your general health. The scheme decides only what it will pay for. Its approval is not a medical opinion.
What to do next
Take the patient's Aadhaar, ration card and every report to the scheme desk of the hospital where the surgeon sits. Ask three things: are we listed, are you empanelled for this surgery, and what is the package code. If any answer is no, the desk should say which other route applies before you leave.
If you are stuck between hospitals, schemes and reports, call the helpline. Someone will walk through the papers with you before you travel.Questions we are asked
Common questions about Ayushman Bharat and cancer surgery
My father is over seventy but we are not on the list. Can he get the card?
Yes. Since 2024 everyone aged seventy and above can get an Ayushman card regardless of income or whether the family was on the original list. It is made against his Aadhaar at a network hospital's scheme desk or a common service centre, usually the same day.
We are from Andhra Pradesh. Does our card work in Hyderabad?
A PM-JAY card is portable, so it can be used at any empanelled hospital in Telangana. A state card such as NTR Vaidya Seva is a different matter and depends on that scheme's own network. Ask the hospital's scheme desk which of your cards they can bill before you travel.
How long does pre-authorisation take?
Usually a few days for a planned operation, longer if the trust asks for more reports. The scheme desk can see the status on the portal, so ask them rather than guessing. A delay here is common and is not a sign of refusal.
Will we be asked to pay a deposit?
Not for items inside the approved package. A hospital may ask for a deposit against things the package does not cover, such as a room upgrade or an implant the code excludes. If so, ask for a written note of what it is for.
Does the scheme cover chemotherapy and radiotherapy after the operation?
Both are listed as separate packages, so each needs its own pre-authorisation. What limits a family is the yearly ceiling shared by everyone on the card, and a long course of treatment can use much of it. Ask the desk to estimate the whole year, not only the surgery.
Can we choose a private room?
The package pays for the ward the scheme specifies. Some hospitals let you upgrade by paying the difference, and some do not allow upgrades on scheme admissions at all. Ask before admission and get the amount in writing.
What if the hospital says the operation is not in the package list?
Ask them to name the closest package and check with the trust, because a related code often exists. If it truly is not listed, ask whether Aarogyasri lists it, since the Telangana list is wider for some cancers. Relief funds are the fallback after that.
Does CION accept Ayushman Bharat?
Ayushman Bharat and Aarogyasri are accepted, alongside CGHS, ECHS, EHS and cashless insurance. Whether a specific operation can be billed to the scheme depends on the package list and the pre-authorisation, so call the helpline with the card and the reports and we will check the route first.
What moves the figure
What affects the cost
Four things change the total more than anything else.
The technique used
A shaped or image-guided delivery costs more than a conventional one, and is chosen on clinical grounds rather than preference.
How many sessions
The total is driven by the number of sittings or cycles, not by a single per-visit figure.
Supporting tests
Scans, blood work and pathology done alongside treatment are billed separately.
Your cover
Aarogyasri, CGHS, ECHS, EHS or cashless insurance usually change the out-of-pocket figure substantially.
Paying for it
Insurance, schemes and payment
What you actually pay usually differs a great deal from the sticker figure.
AarogyasriEmpanelled. Bring the card and a referral where you have one.
CGHS / ECHS / EHSAccepted at CION centres for eligible treatment.
Cashless insuranceMost major insurers are empanelled. Pre-authorisation is handled by our desk.
Self-payItemised estimate given before treatment starts. No EMI scheme exists.
Accreditation and empanelment
- NABH
- NABL
- ISO 9001:2015
- ArogyaSri empanelled
- CGHS accepted
- ECHS accepted
- EHS accepted
- Major cashless insurers
Meet the Specialists
17+ senior cancer specialists. One panel for your case.
Trained at AIIMS, Tata Memorial, and leading international centres. Combined 150+ years of experience. Every complex case is reviewed by 3+ of them — together.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
Surgical Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Hematologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
Surgical Oncologist
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Where to find us
Our centres in and around Hyderabad
Addressed by landmark, because that is how this city navigates. A surgical consultation can be booked at any of these centres through one helpline, and your team will tell you where the operation itself takes place.
Warangal
Vizag
Sources
- National Health Authority — Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY
- National Cancer Institute — Surgery to treat cancer
- American Cancer Society — Financial and insurance matters
- Tata Memorial Centre — Tata Memorial Centre
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Cancer Surgery Under AarogyasriThe Telangana scheme that runs alongside PM-JAYPre-Authorisation for Cancer SurgeryThe step that decides when the operation can happenFree and Subsidised Cancer Surgery in TelanganaOther routes if your family is not listedAttendant Stay, Food and Travel Costs During AdmissionThe costs the package never coversCost, Insurance and Schemes for Cancer SurgeryEvery page on paying for an operation
Talk to us
Not sure which scheme applies to you?
Call the helpline with the card and the reports. We will check whether the operation can be billed to the scheme before you travel. One helpline serves every CION centre.