PM Modi: Health insurance gift to people aged 70 years and above, six crore people will get direct benefit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give the gift of health insurance to citizens aged 70 years and above before Diwali. PM Modi will launch Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) for senior citizens on Tuesday. This will benefit about six crore citizens of about 4.5 crore families.

Official sources said that under this scheme, every person aged 70 years or above, whether poor or rich, is eligible to get an Ayushman card. When the expanded scheme starts, senior citizens will be able to get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh in any listed hospital under AB PMJAY. 49 percent of the beneficiaries of the current scheme are women. The Health Ministry had earlier said that the general public has benefited more than Rs 1 lakh crore under this scheme.

Registration has to be done on the portal or Ayushman app.

A total of 29,648 hospitals, including 12,696 private hospitals, have been listed under AB PMJAY as of September 1, 2024. This scheme is currently being implemented in 33 states and union territories except Delhi, Odisha, and West Bengal. In this application-based scheme, people will have to register on the PMJAY portal or Ayushman App, those who already have an Ayushman card will have to re-apply for a new card and complete their eKYC again.

Facility of additional top-up cover also

Senior citizens aged 70 years and above belonging to families already covered under AB PMJAY will get an additional top-up cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per year for themselves. They will not have to share it with other family members who are below 70 years of age. All other senior citizens aged 70 years and above will get cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per year.

Some other schemes including U-WIN portal will also be launched.

PM Modi will also launch the U-WIN portal developed to maintain an electronic registry of regular vaccinations on Tuesday. Some other projects will also be launched on the same day. The U-WIN portal is currently being operated on a pilot basis. The platform has been developed to keep a permanent digital record of the vaccination of pregnant women as well as children from birth to 17 years of age under the vaccination program. The U-WIN COVID-19 vaccine management system is a replica of Co-WIN.

These will get options.

Officials earlier said that senior citizens aged 70 years and above, who are under private health insurance policies or the Employees State Insurance Scheme, will be eligible to receive benefits under the scheme. However, those who are already availing of other public health insurance schemes like the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), and Ayushman Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), can either select their existing plan or opt for AB PMJAY.