Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch flagship health insurance programme today
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana scheme assures a cover of Rs 5 lakh per year to poor families.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set launch the Centre’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana from Jharkhand on Sunday. This is the “world’s largest government funded healthcare program” targeting more than 50 crore beneficiaries, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana, which was earlier the National Health Protection Mission, was announced in the Union Budget in February under the larger Ayushman Bharat programme. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana is a health insurance scheme that assures a cover of Rs 5 lakh per year to India’s poorest families. It plans to cover more than 1,300 medical treatments and procedures.
“The prime minister will launch the scheme on September 23 but effectively it will become operational from September 25 on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay,” said NITI Aayog member Dr Vinod Paul, who is the chief architect of the scheme, according to NDTV.
Thirty states and Union Territories have signed Memorandum of Understandings with the Centre to implement the programme over the next two to three months after the scheme is launched on Sunday, reported The Indian Express. Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab have not yet signed an MoU with the Centre.
According to the health ministry’s statement, around 10.74 crore entitled families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) will be eligible for benefits under the scheme. Eligible people can avail benefits in government and listed private hospitals. The beneficiaries are identified based on four “deprivation categories”. There is no cap on family size or age under this scheme.
The Centre will contribute 60% of the expenditure, while the state will bear the remaining under the MoU. States are also free to continue with their own health programmes.