Govt races to add 270 mn more to Ayushman Bharat
₹4,200 crore this year on implementing the scheme. One way to scale up would be to target what is called the “missing middle"—those who hover just above the poverty line and therefore do not qualify for benefits, but are still too poor to afford private healthcare.
This is a common problem with welfare schemes around the world, and identifying the missing middle is hard to do. Still, the scheme’s expansion is now due and there are chances the ruling BJP might include missing middle of the PM-JAY in its election manifesto.
About 400 million such individuals (30% of India’s population) are out of the ambit of any health protection scheme, as per a Niti Aayog report, published in October 2021. Prof.
Sri Nath Reddy, former president of Public Health Foundation of India, said, “We need to ensure that no Indian is deprived of essential health services because of an affordability barrier. PMJAY covers 40% of the population.
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