Modi govt approves Ayushman coverage for six crore senior citizens above 70 years

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved extending the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojna family insurance programme to all Indians above 70 years of age benefiting six crore senior citizens regardless of their socio-economic status.

The approval, costing Rs 3,437 crore in the first year, would benefit an estimated 4.5 crore families, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said here after the cabinet meeting.

For families already covered under the flagship scheme, the senior citizens will get an additional top up of Rs five lakh, which the person will not have to share with other family members. In case of two 70 plus individuals in a family, the monetary benefit will be split between the two.

Those who get the medical insurance benefits from CGHS, Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Ayushman Central Armed Police Force or other government schemes may either choose to stay with their existing schemes or have the option of shifting to Ayushman Bharat.

The senior citizens of 70 years and above covered under private health insurance policies or Employees’ State Insurance scheme will be eligible to avail benefits under AB PM-JAY. “For them this will be an additional coverage,” Vaishnav said.

Only two states – West Bengal and Delhi – are currently not party to the flagship scheme as the new BJP government in Odisha announced to come onboard after five years of opposition by the Navin Patnaik led government.

The approval comes three months after President Droupadi Murmu in her first address to the Parliament after the formation of the 18th Lok Sabha, announced that her government would provide free healthcare to India’s 70 plus population by including them in the centrally-sponsored Ayushman Bharat Yojna.

Vaishnav said details about the programme and its roll out plan would be shared by the Union Health Ministry on a later date.

Ayushman Bharat is the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance scheme which provides health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 55 crore individuals corresponding to 12.34 crore families. All members of the eligible families irrespective of age are covered under the scheme.

The scheme has covered 7.37 crore hospital admissions including 49% women beneficiaries. The public has benefited to the extent of over Rs one Lakh crore under the scheme. Over 31 crore Ayushman Bharat cards have been issued so far.

Mission Mausam: The Union cabinet also cleared Rs 2000 crore Mission Mausam to allow the India Meteorological Department to buy new radar, satellites, super-computers, AI tools and other technologies for better weather forecasting.