As of November 30, 2024, approximately 36 crore beneficiaries have been successfully verified under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), a government initiative aimed at providing healthcare coverage. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, revealed in a written response to the Lok Sabha on December 20, 2024, that a staggering 8.39 crore hospital admissions have been approved under the government's healthcare scheme, with treatment costs totaling a whopping ₹1.16 lakh crore.

AB PM-JAY offers a health cover of ₹5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalizations. This flagship program reaches around 55 crore beneficiaries from the economically disadvantaged 40% of India's population, which accounts for 12.37 crore families.

The minister further explained that numerous states and Union Territories have integrated their own state health insurance schemes with AB PM-JAY, thereby expanding the coverage to more than 18 crore families across the country.

In March 2024, the government added 37 lakh families, including ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and Anganwadi helpers, to the program. Additionally, in October 2024, AB PM-JAY was extended to provide free treatment benefits of up to ₹5 lakh per year to all senior citizens aged 70 and above, regardless of their socio-economic status. It is estimated that 4.5 crore families, representing about 6 crore individuals, benefit from this new provision.

The scheme has helped reduce out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) significantly for beneficiaries, particularly in terms of hospitalization costs.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Sai Sindhuja K/MSM)