All people above 70 years of age in India will now be covered under health insurance. They will get this service under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The Central Government announced on Wednesday.
Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aranya Yojana, 4.5 crore families and 6 crore senior citizens of the country will be covered under this insurance. The total allocation for the project is Rs 3,437 crore.
The Prime Minister said that this decision of the Centre will benefit 6 crore senior citizens of the country. The decision was taken after a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Then he announced the news on social media.
Till now, a family used to get health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh annually under Ayushman Bharat. "All senior citizens, irrespective of their family status, will be eligible for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana," the Centre said in a statement. A separate card will be issued for each of them.
Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, a family gets health insurance of Rs 5 lakh per year. If a person aged 70 years or above is a member of the family, he will get a separate health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh. Children under 70 years of age will not be covered under this policy. In that case, if there is an elderly person in a family, he will get health insurance of Rs 5 lakh, and the rest will get health insurance of Rs 5 lakh.
But if a person above 70 years of age is covered under government health insurance such as the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), the Ayushman Central Armed Police Force, or the Ex-Serviceman Contributory Health Scheme, then he can opt for any one. However, if someone has private health insurance, he will get the benefit of Ayushman Bharat health insurance.
In April last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Ayushman Bharat health insurance cover for those above 70 years of age.
A few months ago, an ADB study found that India was far behind in providing health insurance to the elderly. India is lagging behind in the list of Asia-Pacific region. In this situation, the announcement of the Centre is considered significant.
