Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) or National Health Protection Scheme is a program which aims to provide a service to create a healthy, capable and content new India. It has two goals, one, creating a network of health and wellness infrastructure across the nation to deliver comprehensive primary healthcare services, and another is to provide insurance cover to at least 40 per cent of India’s population which is majorly deprived of secondary and tertiary care services.
The scheme will include the on-going centrally sponsored schemes-Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS). On the auspicious occasion of the 72nd Independence Day, our honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi promulgated to launch Ayushman Bharat Yojana as Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan on 25th September, 2018.
What is Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mission?
Ayushman Bharat Yojana is an endeavor by the Indian government to shift from sectoral and fractional delivery of health care services to all-inclusive healthcare services. It is a National Health Protection Scheme which will provide health insurance coverage worth Rs. 5 lakh to each of the selected 10 crore poor families (called beneficiaries) every year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. There are about 1,354 medical packages included in the scheme by the health ministry. These packages include surgical procedures and medical treatments involving expenses relating to medicines, transport, and diagnostics. The scheme is an amalgamation of the two central government schemes – Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).
AB-NHPM is a widespread initiative which will help in building a New India 2022. The implementation of this scheme will be carried out at an exceptional scale and will bring a paradigm transformation in the health sector of India.
Objectives of Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM)
Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a National Health Protection Scheme, has 2 main objectives to fulfill –
1. Setting up of health and wellness centers all over India to provide extensive primary medical services to the poor, vulnerable families.
2. Granting health insurance coverage to about 40 percent of the population deprived of basic healthcare services.
Important features of Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM)
- The scheme will provide a health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh to each family every year.
- The medical benefits to be given under this scheme will be based on the deprivation norms in the SECC database.
- The scheme is applicable all over the country and its beneficiaries can have cashless health benefits from any public or private empanelled hospitals in India.
- The payment rates for the treatment of the beneficiaries will be decided by the government in advance in order to control the costs.
- The central principle of AB-NHPM is to promote co-operative federalism and adaptability to the states.
- The members of the eligible families are required to carry Aadhar card or other IDs prescribed by the government to avail the benefits of this scheme at the empanelled hospitals.
- Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Council (AB-NHPMC) will be set up at the apogee to formulate policies and foster coordination between the center and the states. The council will be led by the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister.
- The states implementing the scheme will have a State Health Agency (SHA).
- The funds for the implementation of the scheme will be directly transferred by the Central Government to the State Health Agencies by way of an escrow account on a timely basis.
- The central government will create a strong, modular, and extensible IT platform in association with NITI Aayog to assist in paperless, cashless transactions.
