Central Team In Odisha For Merger Of GJAY, AB-PMJAY; New Health Cards By Jan Next Year

Bhubaneswar: A central team has arrived in Bhubaneswar to finalise the modalities for integration of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) with the state-funded Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY), Health and Family Welfare secretary Aswathy S informed on Thursday.

Ayushman Bharat scheme to be implemented in Odisha soon, he added.

According to sources, three-member team led by CEO of National Health Authority (NHA) LS Changsan held discussions with Aswathy, mission director of NHM Dr Brundha D and senior officials to resolve the challenges surrounding the seamless merger of the two healthcare schemes.

The central team also met chief secretary Manoj Ahuja and Health and Family Welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling.

The GJAY was previously known as Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), which provides annual cashless treatment of Rs 5 lakh per family and additional Rs 5 lakh for women beneficiaries. It was introduced by the previous BJD regime in 2018 following disagreement over the number of beneficiaries and eligibility criteria under the central scheme. Its integration with AB-PMJAY was a key challenge with Odisha government readying to sign the MoU for implementation of the central scheme for improved coverage via a single health card in the state.

An assurance-based model will be adopted, differing from PMJAY’s existing framework, to minimise disruption to beneficiaries. Women will continue to receive additional health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh as part of the initiative. Necessary IT integration will be conducted on the backend to guarantee uninterrupted health services for beneficiaries, TNIE reported, quoting sources.

The AB-PMJAY offers health insurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per annum.

While around 3.5 crore people in 1.1 crore families are now covered under GJAY, the merger will benefit 67.8 lakh families. New health cards will be distributed from January after the MoU is formally signed, the sources added.