Four years after launch, Ayushman Bharat reaches 30% of beneficiaries

The scheme was rolled out in September 2018 with the aim of providing institutional healthcare to nearly 55 crore individuals

Four years after its launch, the Centre’s flagship family health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna has been able to touch just about one-third of the populace it intended to cater to.

The scheme was rolled out with fanfare in September 2018 with the aim of providing institutional healthcare to 10.74 crore families (or nearly 55 crore individuals) from the lowest socioeconomic strata. They were selected on the basis of the socioeconomic caste census, 2011.

As of August 17, approximately 18.81 crore individuals have been verified under the scheme of which 14.12 crore have been issued Ayushman cards, according to a press statement issued by the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday.

In other words, the scheme has reached to just about 30 per cent of the target population.

Because of the low uptake, the National Health Agency in January 2021 launched a door-to-door Ayushman Bharat campaign, which resulted in the verification of 4.7 crore individuals. A second such campaign is likely to be rolled out soon with the aim of creating 28-30 crore additional Ayushman cards.

Read | Transgender persons to get composite healthcare services under Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY

While the scheme led to over 3.75 crore hospital admissions amounting to treatment worth Rs 45,000 crore, the officials said the impact of the scheme could be further amplified by educating beneficiaries and creating awareness.

To increase the uptake of Ayushman cards, the ministry is now co-branding the cards with states making it a uniform document to avail the healthcare benefits offered by the state and central governments.

“The states have also been asked to find out more beneficiaries from the original list and provide them with the card,” said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. Nearly 30 states are on-board.

The Ayushman card would now also be made available to 4.8 lakh individuals from the transgender community who can use the Rs 5 lakh package even to undertake sex reassignment surgeries.

A comprehensive master package is being prepared for the transgender category which would include the existing AB PM-JAY packages and specific packages like the sex reassignment surgery and subsequent treatment for the transgender community.

They will be eligible to seek treatment in any of the AB PM-JAY empanelled hospitals, where such packages are available. The scheme would cover all transgender persons not receiving such benefits from centre or state-sponsored schemes.

The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday signed a memorandum of agreement with the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Employment to extend healthcare benefits to transgender persons (having an official transgender certificate) as the social justice ministry would pay the annual premium.