At a point of time when the common man is struggling to meet the expenditure of health care which may cost a family’s lifetime savings, the Ayushman Bharat Scheme has come as a lifeline to the poor which ensures the treatment to the beneficiaries free of cost or at minimum expense.
Ayushman Bharat, the flagship scheme of Government of India, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to achieve Universal Health Coverage. This scheme comprises of two components, Health and Wellness Centers and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).
The Government of India has announced the creation of 150,000 Health and Wellness Centers by transforming the existing primary health care centres. Till date, 21000 HWCs are made operational and the Government of India is committed to creating 150,000 HWCs by December 2022. These centres are delivering the primary health care services to the people covering maternal and child health services and non-communicable diseases.
The other component of Ayushman Bharat, PM-JAY provides the financial protection in the form of health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
It has been one year since the launch of Ayushman Bharat scheme and it has brought countless smiles on the faces of lakhs of beneficiaries.
Ayushman Bharat is being implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA) which was set up to implement the scheme at the national level.
The NHA has issued 10.1 crore e-cards to the beneficiaries till date since the launch of the scheme and 3 e-cards are being issued every second under this scheme.
As on date, Ayushman Bharat scheme is being implemented in 32 States and Union Territories. Recently, the Congress run Rajasthan Government has announced the implementation of this Scheme.
Till date, more than 47 lakh patients were given treatment worth Rs. 7500 crores under Ayushman Bharat Scheme, which shows the commitment of the government in providing affordable and quality health care access to the poor.
The beneficiaries are being provided treatment under the scheme including brain tumour surgery, knee replacement, heart surgeries.
Not stopping here, the Government of India is expanding the scheme to reach out a number of beneficiaries across the nation. A few days ago, cab service provider, Ola has joined hands with Ayushman Bharat to provide the health insurance for over 2 million driver-partners.
Coming years, Ayushman Bharat scheme can be seen benefitting more number of people by providing affordable health care.
