4 Years of Ayushman Bharat-PradhanMantri Jan ArogyaYojana (AB PM-JAY)

Context:

Ayushman Bharat-PradhanMantri Jan ArogyaYojana (AB PM-JAY) completes four years.

About PradhanMantri Jan ArogyaYojna (PM-JAY)

• The scheme was launched in September 2018 and recommended by the National Health Policy 2017, to achieve the vision of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme having a central sector component under Ayushman Bharat Mission.
• PM-JAY was earlier known as the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) before being rechristened. 
  • It subsumed the then-existing RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana (RSBY) which had been launched in

Key-Features

• It is the world’s largest health insurance scheme fully financed by the government and the cost of implementation is shared between the Central and State
• It provides a cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization across public and private empanelled hospitals in India.
• It covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalization and 15 days of post-hospitalization expenses such as diagnostics and medicines.
• There is no restriction on the family size, age or gender.
  • The RSBY had a family cap of five members. 
• All pre-existing conditions are covered from day one.

Achievements

• In the last three years, the AB PM-JAY scheme has achieved several milestones in achieving the target of Universal Health Coverage.
• The scheme has widened its arm across 33 States/Union Territories bringing ease to the beneficiary’s life while availing the treatment. 
  • More than 2 crore treatments have been provided to the beneficiary under the scheme. 
  • More than 17 crore beneficiaries have been verified through the Beneficiary Identification System (BIS) and have been provided with Ayushman cards.
  • It has proved to be a boon for women.
    • Of the total number of beneficiaries who have got benefitted under the scheme, over half of them are women.