Ever since its launch on September 23, every evening at 5 pm a daily report is sent to the prime minister’s office on the progress of the scheme
Prime minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana – a tertiary care scheme under which 10.74 crore families are being given an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh.
Ever since he launched the scheme from Jharkhand on September 23, every evening sharp at 5, the prime minister’s office has been receiving an update about the progress of the scheme; details such as number of cards issued, the number of hospitalisations, the number of claims disbursed etc. It is perhaps for this reason that in a mere 66 days, the scheme has notched up unprecedented figures across the country. Just three states – Odisha, Delhi and Telengana are yet to join the scheme.
The top five states in hospitalisations (claims submitted) are Gujarat (53183), Tamil Nadu (49859), Chhattisgarh (44189) Kerala (33394) and Karnataka (32885).
Till November 27, 9.57,989 cards had been issued under the scheme, 352 districts covered, 3,65,394 beneficiaries admitted in hospitals and Rs 493.8 crore disbursed. In all 15079 hospitals have been empanelled, of which more than 50% are in the private sector. More than 2,66,000 claims have been submitted, amounting to a total claim amount of Rs 364.2 crore. Rs 25.73 crore in all remains to be reimbursed after the official deadline of 15 days.
The top five states in hospitalisations (claims submitted) are Gujarat (53183), Tamil Nadu (49859), Chhattisgarh (44189) Kerala (33394) and Karnataka (32885).
In a bit of an anti-climax though the most number of procedures that have been paid for under the scheme are the relatively minor cataract surgeries and root canal surgeries. The scheme, touted as the biggest government health insurance scheme in the world was launched with the intent of preventing impoverishments because of catastrophic health expenditures such as happen in cancers, road traffic accidents and stroke.
Data available with the National Health Agency show that till November 24, 6900 claims have been made for cataract surgeries and 4900 for root canal. Officials say much of the large number of claims submitted under PMJAY from poll bound Chhattisgarh are for dental procedures; the state decided to cover even minor dental processes under the programme. Minus the claims submitted from ophthalmology (cataract) and dental (root canal), Chhattisgarh’s PMJAY hospitalisation figures come down to less than half – just over 16000.
