Nearly 36 crore beneficiaries verified under Ayushman Bharat PM-Jan Arogya Yojana

New Delhi [India], December 21 (ANI): Nearly 36 crore beneficiaries have been verified under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri- Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) as of November 30, 2024. The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Further, 8.39 crore hospital admissions worth over Rs 1.16 lakh crore have been authorized under the scheme. There has been significant saving towards Out-of-Pocket-Expenditure (OOPE) for beneficiaries related to hospitalization costs.

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri- Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is a flagship scheme of the Government that provides health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to approximately 55 crore beneficiaries corresponding to 12.37 crore families constituting economically vulnerable bottom 40 percent of India’s population.

Many of the States/UTs implementing the scheme have converged their respective State Health Insurance Schemes with AB PM-JAY, thereby increasing the population covered under government-funded medical insurance to include more than 18 crore families.

In March 2024, 37 lakh families of ASHA, Anganwadi Workers, and Anganwadi Helpers were also included in the scheme. Further, on October 29, 2024, the Government expanded AB PM-JAY 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. The estimated number of beneficiary families aged 70 years and above across the country is 4.5 crore corresponding to the 6 crore individuals under the scheme.