Aiming for health cover to 500 mn, Modi launches Ayushman Bharat in Ranchi

Modi said nearly 13,000 hospitals would provide treatment under this scheme

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in Ranchi. The scheme aims at providing tertiary health care of up to Rs 500,000 for 500 million. Treatment for all beneficiaries started on Sunday across the country.

Modi said, “People can give it any name — Modicare or whatever — but I consider it service to the poor. People will have to study this scheme across the world and it will be the model health scheme.”

“This scheme covers more people than the US, Canada, and Mexico put together.” 

The PM said the launch happened two days before the scheduled date because September 23 was poet Dinkar’s birthday and it was Sunday, because of which he was free. From the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister on Independence Day said the scheme would be launched on September 25.

Modi attacked the Opposition for playing politics with the slogan garibi hatao. He stated, “Previous governments only played caste politics and emptied the government treasury. We are adopting a holistic approach to provide health care. The government is also focusing on preventive care by including yoga.”

Modi said the scheme would cover diseases beneficiaries were suffering from. He said nearly 13,000 hospitals would provide treatment under this scheme. While it was earlier proposed that the beneficiaries would have to carry their letter and then the card issued to them to avail of the benefits of the scheme, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said they could get treatment even by verifying their identity by using their fingerprint, which will be taken at the time of issuing the gold card to them.  

“Beneficiaries need not take the card with them. At the time of issuing the card, their fingerprint will be registered. They can use that to get treated at any empanelled hospital. This is in line with the government’s Digital India campaign,” said Nadda. 

So far 26 states have signed up for the scheme and are in the process of empanelling hospitals. In the next few years, it is estimated that 2,500 hospitals will be set up in Tier II and Tier III cities. Of the 6.8 million families in the state, the Jharkhand government will provide health insurance to 5.7 million families. 

Of these 2.5 million will come under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The remaining 3.2 million will be covered under the same scheme but the state will pay the premium. Sunil Barnwal, principal secretary to the chief minister of Jharkhand, said, "This is primarily because there were below the poverty line and hence excluded in the socio-economic caste census." For Jharkhand, the insurance premium per family per year is Rs 900. However, the state has chosen the hybrid scheme. Claims above Rs 100,000 will be taken care of by a trust. The state is also framing guidelines for government hospitals to utilise the funds that accrue by treating Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries, says Barnwal.