The Central Government’s ambitious national health protection mission Ayushman Bharat has been decided to be implemented by 8 states and Union Territories(UTs).Touted to be world’s largest health coverage scheme, it aims to provide a cover of 5 lakh/family annually to 10 crore vulnerable families. This scheme is often described as Modicare in reference to Obamacare implemented by Barack Obama, the former US prez in the USA.
Delhi, Odisha, Punjab and West Bengal had not given any positive response towards adopting the programme, said a Health Ministry Official. He added that the discussions were going on with these states.
The 8 states which took an affirmative stand towards the implementation of Ayushman Bharat included Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu – Kashmir, and Uttarakhand. Among the 4 UTs, Chattisgarh was one.
See also:Private hospitals against Modicare rates, Say”too low” for quality care
The states Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Tamil Nadu are among those with whom discussions are going on and will soon sign the agreement.
PM Narendra Modi will be launching this mass welfare programme on August 15.
The States and the UTs which have signed an MoU(Memorandum of Understanding) with the central government are committed to implementing this health programme. The roles of Central and State governments/ UT administrators in implementing the scheme are outlined in the MoU. The other states who have not yet given any confirmation on signing the MoU will be approached by the central Government to conduct regional workshops to conscientize them on the issue.
central Health Minister J.P.Nadda said that the initiative would eventually become the world’s largest healthcare programme because of India’s second largest population.
The scheme will provide a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family to 10 crore poor and vulnerable families annually. It will target poor rural families and identified occupational categories of urban workers’ families – 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas, according to the latest Socio-Economic and Caste Census data.
Under the scheme, cashless and paperless access to services up to Rs 5 lakh/year will be provided and it will be available for the beneficiary families at the point of service in public and private impaneled hospitals across India.
The beneficiaries under the scheme can avail the services anywhere in India and it is expected to bring a visible relief to the target families by mitigating the financial risk from catastrophic health episodes.
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