Govt Announces Free Health Insurance For All J&K Residents

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha announced free health scheme for all residents of the Union Territory.

“Jammu and Kashmir Health Scheme will provide universal health insurance coverage to all the residents of Jammu and Kashmir. This will be implemented in convergence with Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY),” said Sinha.

The scheme will cover employees and retired officers of government services of J&K and their families.

The benefits will be the same as AB-PMJAY and each family will get a cover of Rs 5 lakh.

With 5.97 lakh families already covered under AB-PMJAY, the new scheme is expected to cover around 15 lakh more families.

Life-threatening diseases such as cancer, kidney failure and treatment of COVID-19 are also covered under the scheme.

There are no restrictions on age or family size and all pre-existing medical conditions will be taken care of.

Three days of pre-hospitalisation, hospitalisation and 15 days of post-hospitalisation costs, including diagnostic care and expenditure on medicines will also be covered.

The health department will be distributing Golden Cards (e-cards) among the beneficiaries soon.

The cost of the scheme for the government will be around Rs 123 crore annually and it will be provided by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd.