Ayushman Bharat Health Scheme is the world’s largest health scheme. This scheme is free. Under this, a family gets a cover of Rs 5 lakh annually. Currently, only people from economically weaker sections get the benefit of this scheme.
The central government has made a big announcement for the elderly. Now people aged 70 years and above will get the benefit of the government’s health scheme. Recently, in the cabinet meeting of the central government, the proposal to bring people aged 70 years and above under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) was approved. It is estimated that with this decision of the central government, about 6 crore elderly people from 4.5 crore families will be able to get the benefit of the government’s health insurance scheme.
Will the elderly have to pay any premium?
Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme
) is the world’s largest health scheme. This scheme is free. This means that the policyholder does not have to pay any kind of premium. In this, a family gets a cover of Rs 5 lakh. The government has said that if an elderly person is already covered under this scheme, then he will get a top-up cover of an additional Rs 5 lakh annually. This means that in such cases the total cover will increase to Rs 10 lakh.
What are the options for people who are availing benefits of other health schemes of the government?
If an elderly person is already availing the benefits of any health insurance scheme of the government, then to avail the benefits of Ayushman Bharat Health Scheme, he will have to exit the previous scheme. Currently, schemes like Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) are in force. If an elderly person of 70 years and above is already covered under a private health policy or Employees State Insurance Scheme, then he will continue to get its benefits as well.
What if there are two elderly people in a family?
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that if there are two people aged 70 years or above in a family, then they will have to share this coverage of Rs 5 lakh. He said that the initial allocation for this scheme is Rs 3,437 crore. This is a demand based scheme. This means that as the demand for this scheme increases, the government will increase the allocation for it.
Will state governments also have to bear this expense?
According to the Indian Express, most state governments will have to bear 40 percent of the cost of this scheme. In hilly states and northeastern states, the central government will bear 90 percent of the cost of this scheme. By bringing people aged 70 years and above from all income groups under the ambit of the government health scheme, millions of families will benefit. The elderly need more medical care. The premium of health policy for the elderly is very high. Due to this, many people are not able to buy a private health policy even if they want to.
