President Draupadi Murmu in her address to Parliament announced the decision
In her address to a joint session of the Indian Parliament, President Draupadi Murmu announced that all Indians aged above 70 years will now be eligible for health insurance cover. This was one of the election promises that BJP had made ahead of the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.
Murmu said: “My Government is providing free health services to 55 crore beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat Yojana. The opening of 25,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras in the country is also progressing at a fast pace. Further, the Government is going to take yet another decision in this area. Now all the elderly above 70 years of age will also be covered and get benefit of free treatment under Ayushman Bharat Yojana.”
While the move to cover elderly citizens is laudable, there is considerable anxiety and interest about the feasibility of such a move and the resource implications of it. Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, eligible families currently get an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh. Eligibility is based on data from the Socioeconomic caste survey of 2011. This is the first time an age criteria will be set.
Of the 55 crore targeted beneficiaries, so far only a little over half have actually been enrolled since the programme was rolled out in 2018.
