A game-changer health scheme

Ranchi/New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday rolled out the ambitious entitlement scheme Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), deemed as the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme covering over 50 crore beneficiaries.

Describing it as a "game-changer initiative to serve the poor", Modi said the scheme, which would come into effect from Sunday, is a step towards serving the poor of the country. "Some call it Modicare, some call it a scheme for the poor.

“It is definitely a scheme to serve the poor," the Prime Minister said. "The total number of beneficiaries from Ayushman Bharat is more than the population of America, Canada and Mexico combined. Organisations across the world will study Ayushman Bharat to study how the government funded this large-scale scheme," said Modi. 

The PM urged the people to memorise the helpline number of the scheme. "The helpline number for Ayushman Bharat is 14555. It should be memorised by one and all," said Modi. 

The scheme was announced by the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech and was simultaneously launched in 445 districts. A digital campaign was also rolled out for spreading awareness among the people about the scheme through animations on social media and websites. 

What is Ayushman Bharat? 

• The Ayushman Bharat is a scheme that aims to provide health assurance to 10 crore families or around 50 crore Indians, who will be given up to Rs 5 lakh cover per year. 
• The scheme targets the poor, deprived rural families and identifies an occupational category of urban workers' families, 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas, as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census data. 
• The health ministry has included 1,354 packages in the scheme under which treatment for coronary bypass, knee replacements and stenting among others would be provided at 15-20 per cent cheaper rates than the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). 
• The scheme will provide cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service. Eligible people can avail the benefits in government and listed private hospitals. 

Who can avail and how? 

• The entitlement is being decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database. The beneficiaries are identified based on the deprivation categories (D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, and D7). For the urban areas, the 11 occupational criteria will determine entitlement. 
• In addition, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) beneficiaries in states where it is active are also included. 
• There is no cap on family size and age in the scheme. 
• Aadhaar card is not mandatory. One would only need to establish one's identity to avail benefits under the scheme which can also be done through election ID card or ration card. 
• In case of hospitalisation, members of the beneficiary families do not need to pay anything under the scheme, provided one goes to a government or an empanelled private hospital. 
• The National Health Agency (NHA), the apex body implementing the AB-NHPM, has launched a website (mera.pmjay.gov.in) and a helpline number (14555). 
• Each empanelled hospital will have an 'Ayushman Mitra help desk' where a prospective beneficiary can check documents to verify the eligibility and enrolment to the scheme. 
• All the beneficiaries will be given letters having QR codes which will be scanned and a demographic authentication conducted for identification and to verify his or her eligibility to avail the benefits of the scheme.