Ayushman Bharat to cover Rs 5 lakh per family per year: JP Nadda

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda on Monday said that Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme will cover Rs. 5 lakh per family per year and that there will be no cap on the size of the family.

Nadda gave a presentation on the salient features of the scheme and outlined how it would bring health services closer to the vulnerable and poor at affordable prices.

He also asserted that the Ministry of Health And Family Welfare along with National Health Agency is working hard for last few months to ensure that this program is realized in best possible manner.

While giving details about this noteworthy health scheme of central government, Nadda said, "AB-PMJAY is going to cover 5 lakh per family/per year and approximately 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families are there which are entitled in the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data. There is no cap on the size of the family. States will be given the flexibility to decide on the mode of implementation. There is freedom to the state to decide which model they want to adopt, whether it is insurance model or trust model or mixed model."

The Union Minister also spoke about the scope of the scheme. He informed, "The benefits of this scheme will be portable throughout the country. For example, a resident of Delhi goes for a medical treatment in Mumbai; it is portable in the sense that the payment will be done cashless and paperless to the empanelled hospital there."

During the event, Nadda also launched the official logo of AB-PMJAY, which is being touted as the biggest publicly funded health protection scheme of the world.

The scheme will comprise of the twin pillars of comprehensive primary health care through the 1.5 lakh health and wellness centre and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (earlier known as the National Health Protection Mission).

On the occasion of 72nd Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced AB-PMJAY scheme from the ramparts of the Red Fort and said that it will be launched on the September 25.