AB-PMJAY to cover all elderly over 70: Kishan Reddy

Hyderabad: Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy said that in a significant step towards enhancing healthcare accessibility for the elderly, the Prime Minister has expanded the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to provide health coverage to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above. He said on Friday, the initiative alleviates the fear and anxiety associated with being away from their loved ones, reinforcing their belief in the reliability of this comprehensive healthcare coverage.

The benefits of this scheme include health coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per year on a family basis for senior citizens aged 70 and above. For families already covered under AB-PMJAY, there will be an additional shared top-up cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per year specifically for senior citizens of above 70 years. This means that both senior and non-senior family members can separately access up to Rs 5 lakh per year in healthcare benefits. A separate new card will be issued to eligible citizens above the age of 70 years under AB-PMJAY.

Over the next two years, Rs 3,437 core will be spent (over FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26) towards expanding this scheme for those above 70 years. It will now benefit all the 6 crore elderly above 70 years. The scheme will now add 1.96 crore families and 2.72 crore beneficiaries making the scheme applicable to 4.5 crore eligible families and 6 crore elderly beneficiaries above 70 years under the ambit of AB-PMJAY.

Kishan Reddy said that as a result of this, approximately 10 lakh elderly above the age of 70 will be additionally benefitted in Telangana alone above and beyond the existing beneficiaries.

Before the expansion, approximately 30 lakh families across all age groups were eligible under the scheme resulting in 1.15 crore individuals being covered. The total cumulative treatments availed till Jul’24 stands at 17.2 lakh at a cost of Rs 3,626 crore.