Guaranteed, not just insurance: 3.6 million Delhi people will get free health insurance under Ayushman Bharat
The launch comes after a memorandum of understanding between the National Health Agency (NHA) between the United Health and Family Welfare Ministry and the National Health Agency (NHA) between the Delhi Government’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Double cover for Rs 1 million per family
Every qualified family in Delhi will now receive up to Rs 5 lakh per year under PM-Jay, with an additional Rs 5 lakh top-up provided by the Delhi government. This brings the annual coverage of each household to Rs 1 million.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said: “The Delhi government will add an additional Rs 5 lakh to the cover of Rs 5 lakh provided by the central government.”
Enrollment is expected to start online within two weeks. The first batch of health cards will be distributed to the elderly on April 10.
“Preserve, not just insurance”: Trade Union Health Minister
The expansion of the plan to Delhi is a landmark moment for the Union Health Minister JP NADDA. “It was a time of pride that the program finally implemented 34 states and UTS in the national capital, and the program also ended up being implemented in the national capital. The program is based on trust and is therefore called a “guarantee” plan, not an insurance plan,” he added. Will be covered…All pre-existing diseases will be covered from day one. ”
“It is estimated that more than 600,000 elderly people with 450,000 families in Delhi will benefit,” he said.
Who will benefit?
The program aims to benefit approximately 3 million individuals from 650,000 families. Along with the elderly, the coverage includes thousands of informal sector workers.
These include automated city drivers, vegetable suppliers, street vendors, sanitation workers, public transport workers, lift operators, and frontline sanitation workers such as Asha and Anganwadi workers.
The Delhi government has pledged to cover about 235,000 households at the initial stage.
Chief Minister Gupta said: “Delhi residents can get medical services in 30,957 listed hospitals nationwide under the scheme.”
What does the program cover?
The updated PM-JAY package includes 1,961 medical and surgical procedures covering 27 medical specialties. These cover treatments such as cardiac surgery, oncology, orthopedics and kidney disease, and increase hospital rates and upgrade procedures.
These benefits are cashless in public and private hospitals nationwide. The cost of the premium is shared between the Centre and the Delhi government at a ratio of 60:40.
Launched in 2018, PM-Jay is the health insurance company under the wider Ayushman Bharat initiative. It was created to meet the growing demand for secondary and tertiary healthcare needs in weaker parts of the economy.
To date, it has provided coverage for approximately 550 million people (or more than 1.2 billion families) in 34 states and union territories before Delhi inclusion.
After years of negotiations between states and centres, Delhi became the 35th state or UT to adopt the program.
The expansion is expected to be with another central plan – Pradhan Ayushman Bharat Health Infratustructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). Delhi is expected to sign a second memorandum of understanding with the PM-Abhim Centre on April 10 to further strengthen its public health system.
With enrollment to begin in mid-April and health card allocation begins on April 10, the program marks a key step in the capital’s universal health care visit.
For hundreds of thousands of Delhi people, especially older people, workers and frontline caregivers in the informal economy – this may prove to be a turning point in how they can access health care.
(Input with TOI)
