The Jammu and Kashmir government is all set to use the National Food Security Act (NFSA) database to implement Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and AB PMJAY SEHAT. This database will now be used for addressing the challenges faced in the beneficiary identification and other issues related to data fidelity in Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011. The order about the same was issued by the State Health Agency (SHA) and this shift to the NFSA database will be starting from March 15. According to the new changes, Aadhaar Card will be considered as mandatory and individual ID while the ration card will be a unique ID. If the golden cards are already generated by the family through SECC 2011, they will be linked to the NFSA database.
- Mar 14, 2022
A study showed that only 47% of women benefited under the PMJAY scheme compared to 53% of male beneficiaries during the pandemic. This gender gap was seen in case of both hospital admissions and claim payouts for COVID-19 packages with women accounting for only 40% under the scheme. Utilisation of PMJAY services by women stood at 42.2% when packages under obstetrics and gynaecology were removed from the data.
- March 8, 2022
The Indian Government’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has touched the huge milestone of 3 crore hospital admissions. The scheme launched in the year 2018 is often referred to as the ‘world’s largest government-funded healthcare program’ as it targets more than 50 crore beneficiaries. Under this scheme, around 13.44 crore families that account for nearly 65 crore individuals get an annual coverage of ₹5 lakh a year. Interestingly, the National Health Authority, NHA had recently announced the integration of Aarogya Setu with AB PMJAY. This was done to help users create their accounts under the flagship scheme of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
- Mar 4, 2022
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole has appealed to all eligible employees to have their Golden Card under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme before March 1, 2022. In a meeting held for reviewing the progress of districts with regards to the AB PMJAY scheme, Pole emphasised the completion of enrollment for the whole population under the scheme by or before the deadline. Apart from this, he also issued directions for starting Golden Card enrollment counters in OPD registration chambers at tertiary care, district and sub-district hospitals. Further, some more important directions like organising Golden Card enrolment camps for higher secondary and college-going students were also given my Div Com.
- February 26, 2022
The State Health Agency of Jammu and Kashmir has organised special walk-in drives for Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme. These drives are being held in different locations of Jammu and Kashmir till mid-March for the eligible people to get their golden cards under the policy. In Jammu, the walk-in drives are held at Jammu Lochan Amphala, Talab Tillo Anantnagar Kidzee School, Durga Mandir in Gangyal, BDO Office R S Pura, Government High School Akhnoor. Whereas, in Kashmir the drives are held at Tehsil office Khour, SDM Office Bemina, Tehsil Office Khanyar and at Government Boys School Panthachowk. The (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme, being the world’s largest health insurance scheme that is entirely financed by the government, gives coverage of ₹5,00,000 per family in a year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
- February 24, 2022
The National Health Authority (NHA) is collaborating with various ministries responsible for welfare schemes to strengthen the implementation aspects of AB-PMJAY. This shall include beneficiary database enrichment, beneficiary awareness campaigns and much more. By adding additional parameters to the beneficiary database, the search process would be more convenient. Furthermore, the NHA is proposing to use ration shops to provide scheme related details to eligible beneficiaries. This shall make the beneficiary identification process easier.
- February 18, 2022
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment shared that the Central Government will soon offer health coverage to marginalised tribal communities under the PMJAY scheme. Such a health insurance programme will fall under SEED (Scheme for Economic Empowerment of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes). Around 4.44 lakh families shall be covered under the AB-PMJAY scheme in five years, the ministry said. The aim of such a move is to provide health coverage of ₹5 lakh to each DNT, NT and SNT family.
- February 15, 2022
The Aarogya Setu app can now be used to open an Ayushman Bharat Health Account. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission enables users to generate a unique 14-digit ABHA number. This number helps users link their medical records like doctor prescriptions and lab/hospital reports to maintain a common pool of medical history. It can also be utilised to share these records with registered health professionals and health service providers. Thanks to the multiple features offered by the Aarogya Setu app, it has a huge user base. Now, this app also facilitates ABHA number generation, enabling users to access their medical records and useful services via the national digital health system.
- February 11, 2022
On the eve of 73rd Republic Day of India, 5 health centres from Nagaland were conferred with the title of best performing PMJAY hospitals in 2021. These hospitals were selected on the basis of the number of beneficiaries provided with free treatment under PMJAY, number of PMJAY Ayushman cards issued, percentage of PMJAY beneficiaries treated with regards to the number of inpatients in the hospital, zero grievance and fraud detected, etc. As per an update from the directorate of Health and Family Welfare, patients from Nagaland have received over ₹33 crore worth of free treatment under the scheme since it was launched in September 2018.
- January 28, 2022
A patient in J&K who fractured her leg during a fatal accident expressed her gratitude to the government for covering her treatment expenses under the PMJAY-SEHAT scheme. Similarly, another patient suffering from kidney problem who required immediate surgery was able to avail free treatment under the scheme. In such a way, the PMJAY-SEHAT scheme has proven to be a ray of hope for the residents of J&K where 29 lakh beneficiaries have registered so far. The health department has also expedited the process of registration where the Governor has set the deadline of March 31, 2022.
- January 18, 2022
The District Commissioner of Srinagar, Mohammed Aijaz Asad, headed a meeting on December 29, 2021 to review the progress on the registration of beneficiaries under the PMJAY scheme in Srinagar. The CEO of PMJAY and Mission Director of National Health Mission, Mohammad Yaseen Choudhary also marked his presence in the meeting. A thorough discussion on the implementation of PMJAY as well as issuing of health cards was conducted during the meeting. Furthermore, the District Commissioner encouraged local authorities to speed the registration of beneficiaries under PMJAY so that most of the population gets health coverage in the upcoming months.
- December 29, 2021
As per a new report, the local authorities in Indore have been unable to cover most of the private hospitals under the PMJAY government health insurance plan. The report revealed that in the Indore district, only 65 out of the 298 nursing homes and hospitals were covered under the Ayushman-PMJAY scheme, which is only about 1 in 5 hospitals. The authorities released a statement saying that most of the major hospitals have been covered under the PMJAY, but implementing the scheme at the smaller hospitals is a slow and cumbersome process. However, they plan to add more hospitals under the PMJAY cover in the coming years.
- December 12, 2021
Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State Health and Family Welfare, informed that the Centre has decided to include the treatment of COVID-19 and dengue under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Dr Pawar said that laboratory tests and treatment for COVID-19 infection will be covered under the health benefit packages for COVID-19. The treatment for dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and dengue shock syndrome would now be included in the health benefit packages under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana.
- December 7, 2021
On December 3, 2021, the District Administration of Srinagar launched a month-long campaign to enroll the remaining citizens of the city under the PMJAY-SEHAT scheme. On the directions of the Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, Mohammed Aijaz Asad, such a campaign was introduced under the Har Ghar Dasktak campaign. The purpose of such an initiative was to increase the registration of citizens under the SEHAT scheme and enable the remaining people to avail the benefits of the golden card, said the DC. The registration camps and awareness drive have been launched in all seven Tehsils of Srinagar and will continue for the month of December.
- December 3, 2021
The Central Government informed the Rajya Sabha on December 1, 2021, that in the last two years, around 8.3 lakh COVID-19 patients were treated under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar from the Ministry of State Health and Family Welfare stated that this number is as per the transactions recorded on the NHA IT platform as well as the information shared by the states, using their own IT systems. While some of them used the AB-PMJAY ecosystem, including the National Health Authority's IT platform, others used their own IT systems. Therefore, treatments of COVID-19 have been captured in both general and COVID-19 specific packages of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana.
- December 1, 2021
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh joined the celebrations for the successful treatment of heart patients on November 19, 2021, at Hotel Imphal. The CM rang in the completion of three years of healthcare offered to heart patients by the Sky Hospital under Chief Minister-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang (CMHT) and Ayushman Bharat (PMJAY) scheme. While speaking at the function, he shared how he conceived the idea of implementing the CMHT scheme after meeting numerous people who couldn’t afford healthcare facilities. Right after introducing the CMHT scheme, the PMJAY scheme was launched to offer affordable coverage to the people. He further added that under the CMHT scheme, 175 patients have received heart surgery while the same has been successfully completed on 91 patients under PMJAY.
- November 19, 2021
Celebrating the third anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission (PM-DHM) was launched on September 27, 2021, on a pilot basis. The PM-DHM initiative aims to create a seamless online platform enabling access to and exchange of health records while ensuring complete privacy and confidentiality. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission will make a health ID card, containing personal health records, available to all Indian citizens to ease the process of availing healthcare services in the country. Currently, PM-DHM has been implemented in six Union Territories of India.
- September 27, 2021
An analysis carried out by a public-private initiative reported that, from January 2020 to June 2021, 5% of the total hospitalisations under the PMJAY scheme were for COVID-19 treatment. The data was analysed for 17 major states of India which included eight socio-economically backward states. The report further revealed that over 1.7 crore beneficiaries under PMJAY availed treatment but 95% of the medical care was non-COVID-19 related treatment. Among the eight backward states, 27 lakh beneficiaries under the PMJAY scheme were authorised for treatment but only 61,500 were treated for the novel virus.
- November 14, 2021
The Indo-Tibetian Border Police or ITBP has welcomed the coverage for Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) under the PMJAY scheme. The ITBP can avail cashless healthcare facilities under the Ayushman CAPF scheme under PMJAY. The Deputy Commandant of the battalion, Amit Burman, shared that the Union Minister has already handed over the insurance cards to some of the members of the National Security Guard. The adverse weather conditions along with the risk of getting afflicted with diseases is always a possibility, said the Deputy Commandant. With the help of such insurance coverage, the ITBP unit and their families can now avail treatment for free.
- November 6, 2021
Hospitals in Punjab that were previously accepting PMJAY as health insurance for patients have decided to stop admitting patients with PMJAY insurance from October 22, 2021. All IMA Punjab branches have been warned not to admit PMJAY supported patients as the insurance payments for the previous patients have not been released. The IMA released a statement saying they had not received any payments from the PMJAY for the last 60 days.
- Oct 24, 2021
VK Paul, a member of NITI Aayog, said in a statement that the government is keen on expanding the PMJAY health insurance scheme for more people across the country. He also added that PMJAY is here to stay and that the government will continue to refine and enhance the program. Continuing with his statement, he said that state-level authorities and industries must also proactively come forward to help implement PMJAY across a broader spectrum. Regarding the health budget for states, VK Paul also announced that state governments are planning to increase their healthcare budgets from 4.5% to 8%.
- Oct 20, 2021
The National Health Authority (NHA) has revised the rates of almost 400 procedures available under the PMJAY scheme with the addition of a health package related to black fungus. The rates of the Health Benefit Package (HBP) have increased by 20% to 400%, reported NHA. The HBP 2.2 is likely to be rolled out in November 2021 with the new rates and packages for its beneficiaries. Such a revised version of the health packages aims to strengthen the empanelled hospitals to offer better medical services to the PMJAY beneficiaries.
- October 05, 2021
On the third anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the Assam State Health Department is taking new steps to add more underprivileged people to the government’s PMJAY insurance scheme. Under this initiative, the State Health Department staff will conduct door-to-door visits in Assam and encourage families to enrol in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). The Assam Health Department staff is also equipped to provide ‘Ayushman Health Cards’ on the spot to individuals and families free of cost.
- September 26, 2021
On September 23, 2021, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reported that the PMJAY scheme had served over 2.2 crore people since its launch three years ago. The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which was implemented in 2018, has also been successful in providing healthcare services to citizens residing in the remotest regions of the country, he said. Female beneficiaries account for almost 50% of the 16.50 crore verified beneficiaries under the PMJAY scheme.
- September 23, 2021
A report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) says that only 25% of all the eligible beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) have enrolled themselves under the government insurance scheme. Moreover, around 59% of all Indian households do not have access to any health insurance, the report adds. The study suggests that the main reason most households do not have coverage is low awareness about health insurance. Awareness of health insurance and its importance was observed to be quite low in Tier 2 cities (20%) and even lower in Tier 3 cities (20-25%). However, as per the report, the government has made significant efforts to encourage lower-income households to enroll in the PMJAY scheme since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- September 16, 2021
The government-backed Ayushman Bharat Scheme has authorised around 2 crore hospital treatments worth ₹24,683 Crore as yet, as announced by the union health ministry on August 18. Approximately, 16.2 crore candidates have been provided coverage and given the Ayushman Cards. Union Minister Anurag Thakur, on August 4, also announced that the scheme will provide free health insurance to children below the age of 18. Furthermore, insurance coverage of ₹5,00,000 will be provided to each family protected under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
- August 12, 2021
AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria, at the CII Public Health Summit on June 28, stated that the country’s healthcare system has witnessed a huge difference due to the PMJAY scheme. Dr. Guleria was stressing on the need for change in India’s public health system with changing times. He added that one of the steps towards this change is the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme, which made a ‘huge difference as far as health care is concerned’.
- Jun 28, 2021
After waiting for quite a few months, J&K residents have received the ayushman bharat card to avail the benefits under the PMJAY scheme. As per authorities, over 20 lakh golden cards have been issued to the residents to avail PMJAY coverage of up to ₹5 lakh every year.
- May 31, 2021
The National Health Authority (NHA) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Telangana State (TS) Government to implement PMJAY with immediate effect. After including the TS, the Ayushman Bharat scheme now has a total of 33 states and union territories under it.
- May 24, 2021
Recently, the State Health Agency that processes and approves the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) health cards is experiencing delays. Due to lack of manpower, the agency is unable to process the applications and approve the same on time, because of which, Kashmiri residents enrolled under the scheme are yet to receive their golden health cards.
- April 26, 2021
On April 3, 2021, Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, allowed the National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021 to be covered under the National Arogya Fund for treatment of rare diseases under the scheme. The subsidy of up to ₹20 Lakhs is not only available to low-income families but will also be extended to about 40% of the people eligible under PMJAY.
- April 4, 2021
Since the National Health Authority’s (NHA) ‘Aap Ke Dwar Ayushman’ campaign was launched on February 1, 2021, a record 8,00,000 beneficiaries have been added under the PMJAY scheme in a single day (March 14, 2021). Authorities say that the record turnout can be attributed to India’s Covid-19 vaccine drive. Beneficiaries under the scheme can access free healthcare, including coronavirus care, and get vaccinated for free across all PMJAY-empanelled hospitals.
- March 17, 2021
The Government of India celebrates Ayushman Bharat Diwas on April 30 every year to promote the government healthcare facilities in remote regions of the country. The day also marks the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme by PM Narendra Modi. The policy is popular for providing various healthcare-related benefits to families with low income in India. PMJAY offer a health coverage of ₹5 lakh annually to them, along with free access to a wide range of healthcare facilities across empanelled hospitals.
- April 30,2021
Recent updates suggest the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir has registered over 4,27,466 families & 14,85,059 beneficiaries under the PMJAY scheme. It has, thus, become the first UT in India to get all its citizens registered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
- March 23, 2021
The National Health Authority (NHA) signed an agreement with the UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL) to provide free PVC cards to eligible PMJAY beneficiaries. The PVC Ayushman card is said to have good quality, safe, and durable. Earlier, the beneficiaries had to pay Rs. 30 as fees at UTIITSL to get the Ayushman Card. Now, the PVC card is free of cost to all the eligible PMJAY beneficiaries.
- March 10, 2021
Recently, as a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State Health and Family Welfare, confirmed that states and UTs can now run their health schemes alongside AB-PMJAY, bearing the cost at their end. While doing so, they can use the empaneled hospital network, health benefit packages and PMJAY’s shared IT platform.
The health scheme's funding is shared between central and state governments in a particular ratio. As per the details released, the ratio of the central government share to that of the state government share in case of most of the states is 60:40. While this is the scenario of the states, the number is quite different when it comes to UTs. With regards to UTs, the central government contributes 100% of the health plan’s premium.
- February 16, 2021
On comparing the states that implemented PMJAY and those which did not, the Economic Survey revealed that it has showcased substantial enhancements in a number of health outcomes witnessed in the states that adopted the scheme.
With more penetration for health insurance, improvement in access and utilization of services for family planning, more awareness for HIV/AIDS and decreased mortality rates of infants and children, the implementation of PMJAY has proven beneficial. It is important to note that even in such a short span, the effects of the scheme have proved beneficial, further underlining the potential of the scheme.
- February 15, 2021
Being a component of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana that provides economically backward citizens access to healthcare, PMJAY captured major eyeballs. That’s not all! As per the recent Economic Survey, people relied on the scheme even during the pandemic wave and through the lockdown.
The survey further confirmed that the PMJAY scheme is being utilized extensively for the purpose of affordable care at a higher frequency, which includes the general usage of healthcare services. When compared, West Bengal being a state that did not implement the scheme, other states showcased that there was an decrease in the proportion of households with health insurance coverage. Not just this, the use of methods like contraception, use of pills and female sterilization saw an increase of 36%, 22% and 28% in the neighbouring states of Bihar, Assam and Sikkim respectively, while there was barely any change witnessed in West Bengal.
- February 12, 2021
A government health insurance scheme under Ayushman Bharat - PMJAY has been launched for the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). It is known as the Ayushman CAPF. The scheme provides cashless health facilities to over 28 lakh CAPF personnel and their family members. Under the Ayushman CAPF scheme, beneficiaries can access high-quality healthcare facilities at over 24,000 hospitals across India.
- January 23, 2021
There are over 23,000 hospitals empanelled under the scheme across the country. Both the private and government hospitals empanelled under the PMJAY scheme will get star ratings based on six quality domains – effective, timely, safe, patient-centred, efficient, and equitable healthcare. For any hospital to get a five-star rating, it needs to score above or equal to 90 per cent. To get a four-star rating the hospital needs to score 75 to 90 per cent; for a three-star rating, it has to score 50 to 75 per cent; for two-star rating, it needs to score 25 to 50 per cent; whereas to get a one-star rating it has to score less than 25 per cent. Moreover, these ratings will be reviewed every month based on the quality domains.
- August 30, 2020
Recently, the Governing Board of the National Health Authority (NHA) sat and reviewed the implementation of health facilities under the PMJAY scheme. The meeting concluded with approval from the authorities to integrate the existing health facilities of Central Ministries with PMJAY for employees (government as well as contractual employees). Other beneficiary groups, such as building and construction workers, manual scavengers, road accident victims, and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel, can also access these facilities.
- August 13, 2020
According to the Union Road Transport Ministry, the government is planning to offer cashless treatments for the road accident victims by creating a special road accident fund under the PMJAY scheme.
- June 30, 2020
The National Health Authority (NHA) has started to empanel dialysis centres and laboratories to extend the benefits of the PMJAY scheme that helps the low-income families across India.
- June 15, 2020
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