Ayushman Bharat –Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) Why in News?

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) has crossed the milestone of 26 crore Ayushman cards across the country on 19th October 2023. The flagship scheme being implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA) provides health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 12 Crore beneficiary families.

What is AB-PMJAY?

Under the vision of Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY) shall be implemented so that each and every citizen receives his due share of health care. With Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana, the government is taking healthcare protection to a new aspirational level. This is the “world’s largest government funded healthcare program” targeting more than 50 crore beneficiaries.

Ayushman Bharat-  Pradhan  Mantri  Jan  Arogya  Yojana  (PMJAY)  will  provide a cover of up to Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. Over 10.74 crore vulnerable entitled families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) will be eligible for these benefits. PMJAY will provide cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service. PMJAY will help reduce catastrophic expenditure for hospitalizations, which impoverishes people and will help mitigate the financial risk arising out of catastrophic health episodes. Entitled families will be able to use the quality health services they need without facing financial hardships. When fully implemented, PMJAY will become the world’s largest fully government- financed health protection scheme. It is a visionary step towards advancing the agenda of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Ayushman card creation is the most fundamental activity under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY and concerted efforts are being continuously made to ensure every

beneficiary under the scheme has Ayushman card. It is one of the key activities under Ayushman Bhavah campaign launched with the intent to ensure saturation of health schemes of Government of India.

In order to reach out to the last mile, NHA has launched ‘Ayushman App’ for Ayushman Card creation. The app has a unique feature of self-verification. In simple 4 steps, this feature enables users to create Ayushman Card without visiting any card creation centre. Further, any person can help beneficiaries to create Ayushman card. Thus, the Ayushman App enables Jan Bhagidari. The success of this application can be measured from the fact that the app has been downloaded for more than 26 lakhs times, since the launch of the app on 13th September, 2023.

Today Ayushman Card has become a symbol of equity, entitlement and empowerment. It gives an assurance to the  poor  and  deprived  family  that they will be protected against the double-whammy of disease and the debilitating impact of catastrophic expenditure incurred for its treatment. Underscoring this fact, Government is  making  all  out  efforts  to  ensure  that all eligible beneficiaries possess Ayushman Card.

With 4 crore Ayushman Cards, Uttar Pradesh tops the list of States with the highest number of  Ayushman Card. Madhya Pradesh and  Chhattisgarh stands at number two and three positions with 3.69 cr and 2.04 cr Ayushman cards respectively. Further, it is a matter of immense satisfaction that 49% Ayushman Cards are held by female beneficiaries.