• The enrolment for the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card has reached the milestone of 25 lakh since its launch in October.

• Treatments worth more than Rs 40 crore have been availed since the launch of the Ayushman Vay Vandana card, benefitting over 22,000 senior citizens aged 70 years and above under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in a span of less than two months.

• Senior citizens have taken treatment for various conditions such as coronary angioplasty, hip fracture/replacement, gallbladder removal, cataract surgery, prostate resection, stroke, hemodialysis, enteric fever and other febrile illnesses etc, it stated.

Key points:

• On October 29, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced expansion of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to include all senior citizens aged 70 years and above. 

• Under the expansion, all senior citizens aged 70 years and above are receiving ‘Ayushman Vay Vandana Card’ which will help them avail healthcare benefits.

Key Features:

• Ayushman Vay Vandana Card provides Rs 5 lakh free health cover to all senior citizens of the age 70 years and above irrespective of their socio-economic status. 

• The senior citizens of the age 70 years and above belonging to families already covered under AB PM-JAY get an additional top-up cover up to Rs  5 lakh per year for themselves. 

• Senior citizens who are already availing benefits of various government schemes including Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), and Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have to choose between their existing scheme or can opt for AB PM-JAY. 

• Additionally, persons covered by private health insurance coverage or members of the Employees’ State Insurance scheme are eligible to benefit from AB PM-JAY.

• The card offers treatment for around 2,000 medical procedures and covers all pre-existing diseases from first day itself without any waiting period.

• Senior citizens aged 70 or above who are eligible for the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card can register through multiple channels. 

Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

• Over the past few decades there has been improvement in various health indicators of India. However, the out-of-pocket expenditure, which pushes millions of people into poverty every year. 

• In order to address this and provide health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to poor and vulnerable section of the population, 

• Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) was launched, subsuming the erstwhile Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, on September 23, 2018.

• It is the largest publicly funded health assurance scheme in the world.

• Initially, 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families comprising the bottom 40 per cent of India's population were covered under the scheme.

• In January 2022, the Union government revised the beneficiary base from 10.74 crore to 12 crore families considering India’s decadal population growth of 11.7 per cent over the 2011 population.

• The scheme was further expanded to cover 37 lakh ASHAs/AWWs/AWHs working across the country and their families for free healthcare benefits.

• Currently, 55 crore individuals corresponding to 12.34 crore families are covered under the scheme. Further, many states have expanded beneficiary base on their own.

• The scheme is implemented in 33 states/UTs except the NCT of Delhi, West Bengal and Odisha.

• All members of the eligible families irrespective of age are covered under the scheme.

• The funding of the scheme is shared between central and state governments. 

• The ratio of central share to state share for all states except northeast states and Himalayan states and Union Territories with legislature, is 60:40. 

• For northeast states and Himalayan states, the ratio is 90:10. In the case of Union Territories without legislatures, the central contribution of premium is 100 per cent.

• The AB-PMJAY scheme is completely cashless and paperless and without the concept of reimbursement. Beneficiaries can avail treatment under defined packages. 

• It is an entitlement-based scheme. Eligible beneficiaries can directly visit any empanelled public or private hospital to avail cashless treatment. Ayushman cards are issued to the beneficiaries to create awareness about the scheme. 

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)