The Union government has urged all States and Union Territories to achieve 100% Ayushman Bharat card saturation by utilising the services of grassroots-level healthcare workers. The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is billed as the largest government-sponsored health insurance scheme in the world.
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Stakeholders have also been directed to set up State offices and carry out review and regular monitoring of the programme. While appreciating Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka for the work done under the scheme, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said health models of any other country cannot be adopted in India due to its diversity and required tailor-made solutions.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day Swasthya Chintan Shivir (brainstorming camp on health) at Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY provides a health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to more than 12 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 55 crore beneficiaries) that form the bottom 40% of the Indian population.
The benefits of the scheme are portable across the country, that is a beneficiary can visit any empanelled public or private hospital in the country to avail cashless treatment. The services include approximately 1,929 procedures covering all the costs related to treatment, including but not limited to drugs, supplies, diagnostic services, physician’s fees, room charges, surgeon charges, OT, and ICU charges.
The public hospitals are reimbursed for the healthcare services on a par with the private hospitals.
An eligible person suffering from any medical condition before being covered by the PM-JAY will also get treatment for all medical conditions under this scheme right from the day he or she is enrolled.
The Minister said the chintan shivir would enable sharing of insights, best practices, valuable experiences, and suggestions from various States to enrich the policies aimed at designing schemes for largest beneficiary welfare.
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Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also gave an overview of the sessions which will cover various facets of healthcare in India today.
Various books, including Compendium of Best Practices, Ayushman Bharat, Health and Wellness Centres- Success Stories from the Field, Research to Action-The Insights and Policy implications, and Recommendations for Medical Rehabilitation of Persons Injured after an Earthquake, were released at the inaugural event.
