The world’s largest government insurance scheme is now up and running
Prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana at a massive public rally in Jharkhand on Sunday.
Kicking off the scheme Manju Devi Hembram, Ruby Rani, Chandan Kumar, Mukesh Kumar and Poonam Devi were handed the gold card by the prime minister, even as patients assembled in hospitals across the nation to take advantage of the scheme. The gold card is the identification document for purposes of availing PMJAY benefits.
Modi said: “There cannot be any programme that can serve the poor of this country better. To be able to give upto Rs 5 lakh health assurance to 50 crore brothers and sisters…this programme is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. Nowehere in the world is such a massive scheme running on government money anywhere else in the world…This scheme covers populations equal to that of America, Mexico and Canada.”
He described the move to provide health crore to 50 crore people as an act which in future would be counted as a “huge service to mankind”.
In his speech, health minister J P Nadda said this is India’s quantum leap towards Universal Health Coverage that will bring the country prominently onto the world health map. It will entitle beneficiaries to free drugs, diagnostics and hospitalisation, a “first of its kind initiative in India and in the world,” Nadda added.
PMJAY, a cashless, paperless scheme at the point of delivery, will provide an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh for 10.74 crore families. Reimbursements will be made for hospitalisation and also pre and post hospitalisation drugs and diagnostics, provided they happen at empanelled private or government hospitals.
Hospital empanelment module has been active since 4th July and has already received empanelment requests from over 7,857 hospitals across 354 districts in 22 States / UTs. At present 31 states are on board for the scheme in which entitlement will be through a gold card issued to every eligible individual.
At the function, prime minister Modi also laid the foundation stones of two medical colleges in the state.