The government aims to cover around 60 million people in the age category, irrespective of income, with an assured 5 lakh annually to be shared within the family.
According to a parliamentary response by the Union health ministry in 2023, around 654,000 families in Delhi are eligible to enrol under the scheme.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
Be it poor, middle class, upper middle class or rich, every individual who is 70 years and above is eligible for getting Ayushman card and will receive free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh at any of the AB PMJAY empanelled hospitals once the expanded scheme gets launched.
In the Union budget, Rs 65,011.8 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, up from Rs 62,659.12 crore in 2019-20.
AAP projects its affordable 'health model' as a success story. The BJP calls it a hoax.
Industry experts believe that health insurance companies are unlikely to experience business cannibalisation due to the central government's decision to extend health coverage to people aged 70 and above, regardless of their income level, under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet expanded the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to include all senior citizens aged 70 and older. This move is expected to benefit nearly 45 million families, comprising 60 million senior citizens, by providing Rs 5 lakh in free health insurance coverage per family.
Healthcare: Good news for all ASHA, anganwadi workers
The move to expand the health insurance scheme's coverage comes at a time when several hospitals have complained of delays in reimbursement related to the procedures performed under the scheme.
The Centre is considering a proposal on increasing coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme to Rs 10 lakh from the current Rs 5 lakh.
'Healthcare is not an industry.' 'The government is only encouraging insurance as they are not able to provide healthcare to people.' 'Opening new medical colleges is not what is needed.' 'You have to invest in public sector hospitals.' 'You cannot hand over healthcare to the private industry.'
'The first duty of the government is to learn lessons from a bad experience and course correct. It's a pity that the government is making policy without looking at evidence and differentiating between immediate and urgent.'
According to a senior government official, the plan is to do "collective bargaining" for certain medical devices and implants by assuring a bulk requirement to the manufacturers. "The requirement for these devices runs into millions. We assure them that the requirement is going to be in bulk. In return, they should offer us better rates," he said.
'States have done a tremendous job of identifying health facilities for COVID-19 care and equipping them well.'
Tamil Nadu plans parallel programme with unique user IDs
According to BJP strategists, PMJAY and the PM Ujjwala Yojana will form the nucleus of the Modi government's re-election campaign.
Hemant Shivsaran lists the number of projects the Modi government has announced since August to woo Gujarat voters.
States are now gearing up to implement the scheme, integrating it with their own public health insurance plans and tying up the loose ends.
On the heels of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), which revealed new demographic trajectories including the replacement level of fertility, the government will, on Monday, unveil extensive economic data related to health and the broader economy. New data will relate to per capita spending on health and proportions of the GDP to health spending. Health ministry sources said the NFHS-5 marked some areas for celebration but also some markers that should cause concern.
The dichotomy between richer and poorer states is largely in consonance with the diversity in state level disease burden in the country.
The states and Union territories were also urged not to store, reserve, conserve or create a buffer stock of the COVID-19 vaccines, the Union health ministry said in a statement, a day after the start of the second phase of India's inoculation drive in which the coverage has been expanded to include everyone above 60 and those over 45 with specified co-morbidities.
As per the fifth round of the NFHS, there are 1,020 women for every 1,000 men.
India's total number of active COVID-19 cases has reached 1,64,511, which comprises 1.48 per cent of the country's total infections, the Union health ministry said on Sunday highlighting six states that have shown a surge in new cases in a span of 24 hours.
Ayushman Bharat aims at providing a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually and is aimed at benefitting more than 10 crore poor families across the country.
'For the government, statehood is one of the end-points of the journey. A vast distance has to be traversed to reach there. There are many turns on the road, some resting points, and possibly, many cul-de-sacs.'
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana or PMJAY has not been a runaway success by any yardstick. Not all stores are running, and many are poorly stocked.
Private hospitals can charge up to Rs 250 per dose of COVID-19 vaccine, official sources said on Saturday as India prepares to vaccinate people aged above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities from March 1.
The number of centrally sponsored schemes have increased to 35 in FY22 from 30 in FY21 and central sector schemes have increased to 704 from 685 in the previous year, reports Dilasha Seth.
Several events will be organised in Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat on Wednesday as part of the sesquicentennial year of Gandhi's birth anniversary.
The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from March 1 and registration on the Co-WIN2.0 portal will open at 9 am on Monday.
Vardhan stated the government is taking full precautions in human trials of vaccines and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 under the chairmanship of Dr V K Paul, member-health, NITI Aayog, is drawing up a detailed strategy on how to immunize the majority of the population.
Hospitals empanelled for Modicare may give preference to poor patients over the middle class for fear of strict government action, says Harsh Roongta.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com lists 11 Modi flagship schemes that may have been gamechangers in the Lok Sabha election.
The PM said that the Union Budget will accelerate the economic growth, financially empower every citizen and strengthen the foundation of the economy in the new decade.
The budgetary allocation for the sector is Rs 60,908.22 crore, with Rs 6,400 crore earmarked for the centre's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY).
Describing it as a "game changer", Modi said the scheme was a step towards serving the poor people of the country and it would come into effect from Sunday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances