Ayushman Bharat –Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana: 10 quick points on the cashless healthcare scheme

The beneficiary families under Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) have been identified from the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 on the basis of select deprivation and occupational criteria across rural and urban areas.

New Delhi: The Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana Scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2018 with a vision to provide each and every citizen receives a universal health care. With Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan AarogyaYojana, the government provides a cashless healthcare cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.

Here are 10 quick points on Ayushman Bharat –Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana

1. AB-PMJAY is being implemented in all States and UTs barring West Bengal, NCT of Delhi and Odisha.

2. Ayushman Bharat –Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana provides cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service. AB-PMJAY is the world’s largest Government funded health assurance scheme.

3. The benefits under AB-PMJAY are portable across the country. There is no cap on family size, or age or gender.

4. Entitled families are able to use the quality health services they need without facing financial hardships.

5. AB-PMJAY provides services only for inpatient treatment, therefore, only hospitals providing inpatient services are empanelled under this scheme. As on July 2021, approximately 23,000 hospitals have been empaneled under AB-PMJAY by various State/UT Governments. 

6. AB-PMJAY provides treatment corresponding to a total of 1669 procedures under 26 different specialties including chronic diseases like Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease and other non-communicable diseases and renal and corneal transplant. Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy packages, along with surgical oncology are covered as part of cancer treatment under the scheme.

7. The Indian government has also decided to offer free health insurance to all the children who lost their parents to COVID-19 under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY). 

8. All children will be enrolled as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh. Under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, patients can get free treatment at empanelled private and government hospitals.

9. The government noted that the premiums for children of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme will be paid by PM CARES. The premium amount for these children till the age of 18 years will be paid by PM CARES.

10. Besides health insurance, the Indian government is also offering other benefits to children who lost their parents to COVID-19. These benefits include a fixed deposit in the name of the child, free elementary school education, free high school education and support for higher education. PM CARES will contribute through a specially designed scheme to create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age.