1.5 L benefitted from Ayushman Bharat scheme within 1st month of launch: Nadda

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda Tuesday said that about 1.5 lakh people have benefitted from the ambitious Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme within the first month of its launch.

He said that around Rs 190 crore of bill has been generated under the scheme during this period.

Nadda was speaking after jointly inaugurating with Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal the fifth national summit on good, replicable practices and innovations in public health care systems at Kaziranga.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on September 23 rolled out the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), touted as the world's largest healthcare scheme, in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The insurance scheme provides an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

In his speech, Nadda said, "Health is a sensitive subject. The schemes have to be implemented swiftly so that every citizen in the country is covered. We have to be very careful so far as the skill is concerned and we have to see how skill can be improved in healthcare."