Coronavirus : Over 1 crore availed free treatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme so far,says Report

Over one crore people have availed treatment worth around Rs 13,412 crore for free in hospitals across the country under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme since its launch in September 2018, officials said.

Also, 2,132 patients have availed or are currently undergoing treatment for Covid-19 under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) in the country, the National Health Authority (NHA), which is responsible for implementing the scheme, said on Wednesday.

Responding to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Union Ministry of Health has made testing and treatment for the coronavirus infection free under the insurance scheme for its 53 crore beneficiaries.

More than 21,565 hospitals, including private hospitals, have been empanelled under the programme so far, the NHA said in its statement.

Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Rajasthan have emerged as the top performing states, providing the highest number of treatments under the scheme, it said.

Orthopaedics, cardiology, cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery, radiation oncology and urology have remained as the top specialties under which treatment is sought.

Treatment packages like single stent (medicated, inclusive of diagnostic angiogram), hip fracture internal fixation and rehabilitation, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), double stent (medicated, inclusive of diagnostic angiogram) and total knee replacement have emerged as the top tertiary procedures, the statement said.

This is a milestone achievement for the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme on providing 1 crore treatments to patients from the country’s poorest households since its launch less than two years ago. These treatments worth Rs 13,412 crore have been provided through a growing network of 21,565 public and private empanelled hospitals, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in the statement.

“The government of India is making persistent efforts to expand testing and make treatment of Covid-19 available for free to all 53 crore beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, further strengthening government’s resolve, scope and capability to move towards universal health coverage,” Vardhan said.