The government has said that 49 per cent of the Ayushman Cards are issued to women and out of 7.79 Crore hospital admissions, around 3.61 Crores are utilized by women. Health Ministry said, in terms of Ayushman Cards creation Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra are top performing states and in terms of utilization, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are the top performers.
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana AB PM-JAY aims to provide health cover of five lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to approximately 55 crore beneficiaries corresponding to 12.37 Crore families constituting the bottom 40 per cent of India’s population. States and UTs implementing AB PM-JAY have further expanded the beneficiary base at their own cost. AB PM-JAY has also expanded it’s beneficiary base and provides cover to ASHA workers, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers, Transgenders and Building and Construction Workers beneficiaries.
The government has recently given approval to extend the benefits to senior citizens of the age of 70 years and above irrespective of their economic status. This is expected to benefit nearly six crore senior citizens of the age of 70 years or more. Recently Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda had informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the expanded Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana next month to include all people aged 70 and above irrespective of their socio-economic status. Under the convergence mechanism, the scheme has also been extended to all eligible Sewer Septic Tank workers. As on 1st September this year, a total of 29 thousand 648 hospitals including 12 thousand 696 private hospitals have been empaneled under the scheme. The scheme is being implemented in 33 states and Union Territories, excluding Delhi, Odisha, and West Bengal. It provides cashless inpatient services to beneficiaries at empanelled hospitals nationwide, with no restrictions on family size, age, or gender. Further all preexisting diseases are covered from day one in the scheme.
The scheme operates through a robust IT platform and the services are entirely paperless and cashless. It offers comprehensive coverage that includes one thousand 949 medical procedures across 27 medical specialties, such as General Medicine, Surgery, Oncology, and Cardiology. Hospital services, including drugs covering 15 days of medication post-discharge, diagnostics up to three days before admission, food, and lodging, are provided at no cost to the beneficiaries. Portability of the services is one of the major features of the scheme wherein the beneficiary of the one state can avail treatment in any empaneled hospital across India. 11.9 lakh hospitalizations worth three thousand 100 Crore have been authorized under AB PM-JAY under this portability feature.
