Ayushman Bharat Yojana- The government has announced to provide the benefits of Ayushman Bharat Yojana to all citizens of the country aged 70 years and above. Now the Modi government is considering adding more health packages to this scheme.
New Delhi. The government has announced to provide the benefits of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat Yojana) to all citizens aged 70 years and above. The National Health Authority (NHA), the body operating the Ayushman scheme, is considering the need to add more health packages for the elderly to this scheme, so that the elderly can get better health services. If this happens, the elderly will be able to get treatment for more diseases for free in registered government and private hospitals. It is worth noting that only last month the Narendra Modi cabinet had announced to bring all the elderly aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their financial condition, under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat Yojana. About 6 crore senior citizens and about 4.5 crore families of the country are expected to benefit from this announcement of the government.
According to a report by news agency PTI, official sources have informed that the expanded scheme can be implemented by the end of this month. Its direct benefit will be given to six crore citizens of about 4.5 crore families. The committee deciding on the health benefit package is considering which other health packages can be added to the Ayushman scheme.
Comprehensive coverage of the scheme
The current scheme covers 1,949 medical procedures covering 27 different medical specialties such as general medicine, surgery, cancer and cardiology. Under this, hospital services, medicines, diagnostic services, food and accommodation are provided free of cost to the beneficiaries. Hospitalization services due to mental health problems like Alzheimer’s and dementia are also covered under this Ayushman scheme.
Free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh
People who have Ayushman card can avail free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh through it. As of September 1, a total of 29,648 hospitals including 12,696 private hospitals were listed under the Ayushman scheme. This scheme is currently applicable in 33 states and union territories. However, it has not yet been implemented in Delhi, Odisha and West Bengal.
