NEW DELHI, Sep 12 : Health coverage for all individuals aged 70 years and above under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is expected to become operational within a week, benefiting around six crore senior citizens, official sources said on Thursday.
Initially, registrations will be carried out on a pilot basis in select locations and later expanded across the country, the sources said.
It is an application-based scheme, people will need to register on the PMJAY portal or on the Ayushman app, they added.
According to an official source, anyone aged 70 years or above will be eligible for applying for the scheme, irrespective of their income.
“Those already having the Ayushman card will need to again apply for a new card and complete their eKYC again,” the source said.
Aimed at benefiting around 4.5 crore families with six crore senior citizens, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved health coverage to all the elderly aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their income, under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).
Sources said the face authentication facility available on the portal will have a designated link for senior citizens aged 70 years and above.
“There is no waiting period, no cooling off period. Once eKYC is done, card will be operational for use immediately,” the official source stated, adding the Centre will work towards adding more packages that exclusively tend to geriatric care (old age-related ailments).
“If states want to expand the scheme or modify it to include other age groups, it is up to them,” the source said.
About 2 crore families and 3 crore individuals will be added to the scheme because of this announcement, the source added.
“Senior citizens of the age 70 years and above belonging to families already covered under AB PM-JAY will get an additional top-up cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year for themselves (which they do not have to share with the other members of the family who are below the age of 70 years).
“All other senior citizens of the age 70 years and above will get a cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year on a family basis,” an official statement issued on Wednesday said.
It clarified that senior citizens of 70 years and above who are under private health insurance policies or Employees’ State Insurance scheme will be eligible to avail benefits under the AB PM-JAY.
However, those already availing benefits of other public health insurance schemes such as the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) may either choose their existing scheme or opt for AB PM-JAY, the statement said.
According to the government, AB PM-JAY is the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance scheme which provides health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 55 crore individuals corresponding to 12.34 crore families.
The scheme has covered 7.37 crore hospital admissions, including 49 per cent women beneficiaries. The public has benefited to the extent of over Rs 1 Lakh crore under the scheme, the statement issued on Wednesday claimed.
“The probability of 70 plus age group people going to the hospital is higher than the rest of the population. Private insurance is difficult to obtain for such old-age people.This scheme is also expected to help women further as 58 per cent of 70 plus age people are women, 54 per cent of them being widows,” the official source said.
AB PM-JAY scheme has witnessed continuous expansion of the beneficiary base, it said, adding that initially, 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families comprising the bottom 40 per cent of India’s population were covered under the scheme.
In January 2022, the Union government revised the beneficiary base from 10.74 crore to 12 crore families considering India’s decadal population growth of 11.7 per cent over the 2011 population.
The scheme was further expanded to cover 37 lakh ASHAs/AWWs/AWHs working across the country and their families for free healthcare benefits. (PTI )
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