Ganesh Kendale
NEW DELHI: Nearly five lakh senior citizens who are 70 and above have been enrolled for Ayushman cards since the expansion of the health assurance scheme AB-PMJAY. The highest number of applications for enrollment were in MP (1.66 lakh), followed by Kerala (1.28 lakh), UP (69,044) and Gujarat (25,491) under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
PM Modi had launched the expansion of the AB-PMJAY to include people aged 70 and above, regardless of their income, two weeks ago. Till date, more than five lakh request for enrollment have been received under the yojana, according to data shared by the scheme’s implementing agency, National Health Authority. Of these, 4.69 lakh applications have been approved.
Before the scheme’s expansion, only poor and vulnerable families, and a few other categories of workers, for example ASHA workers, were eligible under the scheme, which offers an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
“We have shared IEC (information, education, communication) material with all states. As word spreads, we are confident more and more senior citizens will become involved,” an official said. The eligible beneficiaries can apply for the Ayushman Bharat Senior Citizen Scheme through www.beneficiary.nha.gov.in or by using the Ayushman app.
It is a simple process in which beneficiaries must verify their identity and eligibility through Aadhaar e-KYC. Aadhaar serves as the primary document for confirming both the beneficiary’s age and state of residence, and it is the only document required to complete the registration process, the official explained.
AB PM-JAY, the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance scheme, was launched in 2018 to provide health cover to 55 crore people, corresponding to 12.34 crore poor & vulnerable families.
