The Centre is considering a proposal on increasing coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme to Rs 10 lakh from the current Rs 5 lakh.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih issued notices to the Centre and others seeking their responses on a plea filed by the Delhi government against the December 24 2024 direction of the Delhi high court.
'Patients under the scheme may ultimately have to go to private hospitals.'
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.
Union Minister JP Nadda accuses the West Bengal government of aiding infiltrators, claiming it will lead to original inhabitants becoming a minority. He also criticizes the TMC for alleged corruption and failure to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
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.
The key components of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission include a health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application, a Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.
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.
Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has accused the West Bengal government of deliberately withholding central allocations for social welfare projects, including Ayushman Bharat and PM Awas Yojana, impacting millions of citizens. He also criticised the state's handling of farmer support and public distribution systems.
The Rs 5 lakh free health insurance cover would benefit senior citizens of around 4.5 crore families. Eligible beneficiaries would be issued a new distinct card under the scheme, the government said.
Union Minister JP Nadda accuses the West Bengal government of sheltering infiltrators, leading to demographic changes and hindering development.
In Chhattisgarh, 40 lakh BPL smart card holders under the state's existing MSBY will be beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat.
Since its launch in September, Ayushman Bharat has issued 20 million cards and has set an ambitious target to hit another 30 million within the next three months.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ayushman Bharat health care scheme is just a slogan for the moment, it is the state's Mukhyamantri Amrutum health assurance scheme which is a comforting reality for many.
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.
West Bengal signed an MoU with the Centre for jointly implementing Ayushman Bharat but so far officials have received no word about how it will be done and the deadline is almost here.
'The biggest gainers under this scheme would be insurance companies.' 'If the government is going to route the payments through the insurance companies, these companies will be making nearly 30 per cent of the money.' 'For instance, if the government is paying Rs 100, then Rs 30 will go to these insurance companies.' 'Only Rs 70 will be available for expenditure that will be incurred by the hospitals.'
From coming up with the correct list of beneficiaries to finding enough people to work as Ayushman Mitras to generating awareness about the scheme - many things need to fall in place before it can be successfully launched in a few days.
The National Health Authority (NHA) is promoting the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) to standardise and simplify health insurance claims processing in India, aiming for a seamless and reliable digital infrastructure similar to UPI.
The Delhi government, now led by the BJP, has withdrawn all cases filed by the previous AAP administration against the Union government, the Lieutenant Governor, and several senior bureaucrats.
Goyal also said the government has been providing cheaper drugs through Jan Aushadhi stores.
Opposition members trooped to the well of the House raising slogans against the government from dropping Mahatma Gandhi's name from the rural jobs initiative and tearing copies of the G RAM G Bill and flinging it towards the chair.
'Where is the spirit of Team India?' asks Chandrababu Naidu.
She also accused the Union government of making "false claims" about crop insurance benefits to the farmers, even as the state government was bearing 80 per cent of the cost.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the TMC government in West Bengal of patronizing infiltration, leading to demographic changes and riots. He reassured refugees and promised action against illegal migration if the BJP comes to power.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday charged the Trinamool Congress government with 'playing with national security by protecting infiltrators' for vote-bank politics, and said ending the ruling party's 'maha jungle raj' was vital to restore law and order, development and investor confidence in the state.
The Union Cabinet, meeting at the new PMO complex 'Seva Teerth', resolved to prioritize citizen empowerment and service in all its decisions, guided by the principle of 'Nagrik Devo Bhava'.
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.
The government on Sunday gave a strong push to upgradation and expansion of healthcare infrastructure, medical education and pharma sector with the Union Budget 2026-27 announcing a slew of steps, including those aimed at making India a global hub for allied healthcare professionals and biopharma manufacturing.
The PM alleged that a 'PC' (percentage commission) culture has become the state government's identity.
In a world fractured by uncertainty, India stands out for its policy consistency, paired with sustained ambition, points out Pritam Banerjee.
As a result of the mass state-led scheme, the processes in the health insurance market could get simplified over time and become uniform
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.
The dichotomy between richer and poorer states is largely in consonance with the diversity in state level disease burden in the country.
'We have often heard the mythical argument that patents block access to life-saving drugs, but only 5% of medicines from multinational companies are under patent protection in India.' 'Where these patented products are beyond the reach of Indian patients, the companies have programmes to facilitate access to their drugs, for free or for a fraction of the price,' points out Ranjana Smetacek, former director general, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India.
AAP projects its affordable 'health model' as a success story. The BJP calls it a hoax.
'The watershed moment was June 22, 2024, when the divisional in-charge of Gadchiroli, Giridhar Tumreti, who was their senior-most commander, along with his wife, came forward to surrender before the then deputy chief minister and home minister Devendra Fadnavis.'
A series of decisions were taken under the Public Health Department, including an approval to increase honoraria for field-level workers engaged under the Ayushman BharatPradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana.
President Droupadi Murmu addressed the nation on the eve of Independence Day, praising the response to terrorism, highlighting achievements in defense self-reliance, and emphasizing unity and progress.
The newly-formed Delhi Cabinet in its first meeting approved the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the national capital. The cabinet also decided to present 14 pending CAG reports in the first session of the assembly. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that the previous AAP government did not allow the health scheme in the city, preventing the people from availing its benefits.
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