Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Monday signed an MoU with the Centre for rolling out Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) by integrating it with the state’s Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana, in the state.
The MoU was signed by Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Odisha, Aswathy S and CEO of National Health Authority (NHA) L S Changsan, in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, and Odisha Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling.
Union Ministers from Odisha, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Jual Oram, will also be present.
With this, Odisha has become the 34th state/UT to implement the scheme, providing comprehensive healthcare coverage to economically vulnerable families.
Under the new arrangement, a single bilingual health card will be issued to each eligible beneficiary, consolidating the benefits of both the schemes. It will provide a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation with additional health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh for women.
“A total of 1.03 crore families in Odisha, the data of which has been shared by the state government, will be covered under this conversed scheme. Of these, 67.8 lakh families will be supported by the central government. In addition, the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a social security scheme, will be integrated into this scheme,” said Changsan.
They will be able to avail cashless treatment at over 30,000 hospitals across the country.
The scheme will be implemented by NHA set up by the Ministry of Health at the national level and State Heath Assurance Society under the Department of Health and Family Welfare in Odisha. This scheme will run on the IT platform of NHA, she said.
Changsan added that the health cards will be printed shortly and distributed.
“This development is expected to bolster Odisha’s healthcare infrastructure, enhance patient care, and reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families. The successful implementation of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY in Odisha will serve as a model for other states to follow, accelerating the country’s progress towards achieving comprehensive healthcare for all,” an official release said.
Earlier this month, a central team led Changsan held discussions with Health secretary Aswathy S, mission director of NHM Dr Brunda Das and senior officials to finalise the modalities for integration of the two schemes.
Notably, the previous BJD regime led by Naveen Patnaik had refused to implement the Centre’s flagship health programme, saying it already has a scheme called Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana with more beneficiaries compared to it. The Mohan Majhi government later renamed the state scheme as Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana and announced to integrate it with Ayushman Bharat.
Key Features of PM-Jana Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY)
>> PM-JAY 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
>> PM-JAY provides cashless access to health care services for the beneficiary at the point of service, that is, the hospital.
>> PM-JAY envisions to help mitigate catastrophic expenditure on medical treatment which pushes nearly 6 crore Indians into poverty each year.
>> It covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalization and 15 days post-hospitalization expenses such as diagnostics and medicines.
>> Over 12 crore poor and vulnerable entitled families (approximately 55 crore beneficiaries) are eligible for these benefits
>> There is no restriction on the family size, age or gender.
>> All pre–existing conditions are covered from day one.
>> Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country i.e. a beneficiary can visit any empanelled public or private hospital in India to avail cashless treatment.
>> Services include approximately 1,929 procedures covering all the costs related to treatment, including but not limited to drugs, supplies, diagnostic services, physician’s fees, room charges, surgeon charges, OT and ICU charges etc.
>> Public hospitals are reimbursed for the healthcare services at par with the private hospitals.
