Delhi to get Ayushman Bharat insurance as BJP keeps pre-poll promise

New Delhi: The Delhi government is all set to sign an MoU with the National Health Authority to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) on March 18, official sources said on Thursday.

With this, Delhi will become the 35th state/UT to implement the health insurance scheme.

West Bengal will remain the only state to not have adopted the scheme.

"The Mou will be signed on March 18 in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda and five families will be given AB-PMJAY cards making them beneficiaries of the scheme," the sources said.

Implementation of the scheme was one of the major promises of the BJP for the Delhi Assembly election.

The previous AAP government had devised their own scheme and refused to implement AB-PMJAY.

The BJP won the February 5 Delhi Assembly election returning to power in the city after over 26 years.

The AB-PMJAY provides health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to approximately 55 crore beneficiaries corresponding to 12.37 crore families constituting economically vulnerable bottom 40 per cent of India's population.

On October 29, 2024, the Central government had expanded the AB-PMJAY to provide free treatment benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status.