Promising healthcare for everyone, PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat

The government is working in a holistic way to improve the country's health sector, said PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the 'Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)' in Ranchi.

The scheme, touted as the "worlds largest government funded healthcare programme", targets more than 500 million beneficiaries.

The scheme will provide a cover of up to Rs 500,000 per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation through a network of Empanelled Health Care Providers (EHCP).

The Ayushaman Bharat scheme has a great connection with two great Indian legends. 

"The scheme will cover the treatment of more than 1,300 illnesses including cancer, heart disease, kidney and liver disease, diabetes. Treating serious diseases will not only be carried out in government but in many private hospitals also. If someone has any prior illness then the cost of the disease will be raised by this scheme. More than 13,000 hospitals have been associated with the Ayushman Bharat scheme" said PM Modi.

"When the first phase of the plan began in April, it was Baba Sahib Ambedkar's birthday. Now, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) has started two days before Din Dayal Upadhyay Ji's birthday", PM Modi added.

"If we also add the population of United States, Canada and Mexico together, their total number will be closer to the number of beneficiaries of the scheme. Also, the number of beneficiaries of this scheme is equal to the total population of the entire European Union. And, no other country in the world is not going to have such a big plan with the government's money", said PM Narendra Modi.

"The person standing in the last line of the society, from the poor to the poor, received treatment, the better the health facility, today the vision has taken a huge step. With the resolution of the Ayushaman India, Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana is getting implemented today", said PM Modi.

Modi also said that 2,500 modern hospitals would come up in tier-II and tier-III cities and would generate employment opportunities. Reiterating the slogan "Sabka saath, sabka vikas" (together for all, development for all), Modi said the Ayushman scheme is not based on any communal or caste lines. The health scheme will set an example for countries across the world, Modi said.

"The government is working in a holistic way to improve the country's health sector. On one hand, the government is concentrating on affordable healthcare, as well as being stressed on preventive healthcare too", added PM Modi.

"To know more about Ayushman Bharat scheme, call this number 14555, or consult the nearest common service centre," PM Modi noted.

The EHCP network will provide cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiaries at both public and private hospitals.

The services will include 1,350 procedures covering pre and post-hospitalisation, diagnostics, medicines etc.

Ayushman Bharat has two components - the creation of 150,000 health and wellness centres, which will provide Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) and the PMJAY, which provides health protection cover to poor and vulnerable families for secondary and tertiary care.

The first Health and Wellness Centre was launched by Modi at Jangla, Chhatisgarh on April 14.

PMJAY primarily targets the poor, deprived rural families and identifies occupational category of urban workers' families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data for both rural and urban areas as well as the active families under the Rashtriya Swasthya BimaYojana (RSBY).

The objectives of the scheme are to reduce out of pocket hospitalisation expenses, fulfil unmet needs and improve access of identified families to quality inpatient care and day care surgeries.

The scheme allows states enough flexibility in terms of packages, procedures, scheme design, entitlements as well as other guidelines while ensuring that key benefits of portability and fraud detection are ensured at a national level.

States have the option to use an existing trust/society or set up a new trust/society to implement the scheme as State Health Agency and will be free to choose the modalities for implementation.

It can implement the Scheme through an insurance company or directly through the Trust/Society/Implementation Support Agency or a mixed approach.

Pilot launch of the scheme has already started in around 22 states and Union Territories and so far 30 states and union territories have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and started working on implementation of the mission.