Delhi has officially joined the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), a step that will offer free health insurance to nearly 3.6m people.
Among the beneficiaries are around 600,000 senior citizens aged 70 and above, who will receive coverage under the Ayushman Vay Vandana Yojana, irrespective of their income level or social background, according to a report by The Times of India.
The rollout follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Health Authority (NHA) of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Delhi government’s Department of Health and Family Welfare.
Each eligible family in Delhi will receive up to INR500,000 ($6,000) per year under AB PM-JAY, with the Delhi government offering an additional INR500,000 top-up. This brings the total annual coverage to INR1m per family for secondary and tertiary care.
The scheme is reported to benefit individuals and the families of those engaged as autorickshaw drivers, vegetable vendors, street hawkers, sanitation workers, public transport staff, lift operators, frontline health workers, etc.
The Delhi government has committed to covering approximately 235,000 families in the initial phase. The first batch of health cards will be distributed to senior citizens on 10 April.
AB PM-JAY is a government-backed health assurance scheme that aims at providing a health cover of INR500,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to over 120m poor and vulnerable families (approximately 550m beneficiaries) that form the bottom 40% of the Indian population.
Ayushman Vay Vandana provides INR500,000 free health coverage to all senior citizens aged at least 70, irrespective of their socio-economic status. The senior citizens aged 70 years and above belonging to families already covered under AB PM-JAY get an additional top-up coverage of up to INR500,000 per year for themselves. Senior citizens who are already covered by various government schemes including Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), and Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have to choose between their existing scheme or can opt for AB PM-JAY. Additionally, persons covered by private health insurance coverage or members of the Employees' State Insurance scheme are eligible to benefit from AB PM-JAY.