Ayushman Bharat cap may double to ₹10 lakh

livemint.com:

₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh in the interim budget on 1 February, two officials aware of the matter said. The Union budget for FY24 had allocated ₹7,200 crore for Ayushman Bharat, a number that may more than double to around ₹15,000 crore in FY25. The health ministry has requested the finance ministry for ₹1.1 trillion for FY25, up 23% from ₹89,155 crore in FY24, said one of the two officials cited above, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The FY23 budget had set aside ₹86,200 crore for the health ministry. Emails sent to spokespersons of the health and finance ministries remained unanswered till press time. Health schemes have helped the Bharatiya Janata Party win four of the five states that went to polls recently.

The success of state-led health schemes and their popularity are now proposed to be replicated at the Centre with enhanced insurance coverage under Ayushman Bharat, the officials cited above said. Started in 2018, Ayushman Bharat offers insurance for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization across empanelled public and private hospitals. It covers up to three days of pre-hospitalization and 15 days post-hospitalization expenses for diagnostics and medicines.

So far, the scheme has benefited 600 million people. “It is worth noting that Rajasthan’s health coverage scheme has now come under AB-PMJAY, where an insurance cover of ₹25 lakh is being extended to beneficiaries. Though the government may not scale up the coverage to the levels in the state, an enhanced coverage is being considered, which will also cover the rising cost of hospitalization in the country," the official cited above said.