Ayushman Bharat: Govt gets more ambitious with its health insurance scheme
NEW DELHI : The Union health ministry plans to expand the scope of its flagship cashless health insurance scheme, covering more expensive cancer and transplant-related surgeries and treatments for individuals from poor families. The ministry had in 2022 included certain basic oncology treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation, as well as kidney and heart transplants and dialysis under the scheme called Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna. While private hospitals typically charge ₹2.5 lakh to ₹10 lakh for such procedures, the government plans to include more complex treatments costing ₹20 lakh to ₹30 lakh, according to two ministry officials familiar with the plans.
These officials, who declined to be identified, did not specify what additional treatments and surgeries would be included in the updated list. “The ministry is reviewing the existing facilities… the changes are likely to be made after the election," one of them said. When Ayushman Bharat was rolled out in 2018, it was meant to offer cashless treatment for secondary and tertiary care of up to ₹5 lakh per person in a year in both government as well as empanelled private hospitals.
At the time, health insurance penetration in India was only about 35%, according to Statista.com. As of September, about 600 million families earning less than ₹2.5 lakh in a year were issued Ayushman Bharat cards, helping provide timely and necessary medical care to individuals who otherwise weren’t able to afford such treatments. The scheme currently lists 1,109 packages and 1,949 procedures across 27 specialties.
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