The Modi government’s flagship programme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), touted as the world’s largest government-funded healthcare programme, has crossed the 50 lakh treatment mark.

Key Highlights:

• Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as the top-performing states under the scheme.
• In just over a year later, Ayushman Bharat has completed 50 lakh hospital admissions.
• There were 9 hospital admissions every minute across India in the first year.
• Under the government-funded health assurance scheme, free secondary and tertiary treatment worth Rs 7,901 crore has been carried out in the 32 states and UTs implementing the scheme.
• As per the National Health Authority (NHA) data, more than 60 per cent of the amount spent has been on tertiary care.
• Segments like cardiology, orthopaedics, radiation, oncology, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, and urology have emerged as the top tertiary specialities.

Ayushman Bharat Scheme:

• Launched as recommended by the National Health Policy 2017, to achieve the vision of universal health coverage.
• Ayushman Bharat is an attempt to move from sectoral and segmented approach of health service delivery to a comprehensive need-based health care service. 
• Ayushman Bharat aims to undertake path-breaking interventions to holistically address health (covering prevention, promotion and ambulatory care), at primary, secondary and tertiary level.

There are two flagship initiatives under Ayushman Bharat:

1.Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY):

• Under this scheme, 1.5 lakh health sub-centres are being converted into health and wellness centres.  
• The centres will provide comprehensive healthcare, including treatment for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services.
• Besides this, they will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services; Rs. 1200 crore has been allocated for this flagship programme.
• The scheme will cover more than 10 crore poor families, which is approximately 50 crore persons.
• Covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalization and 15 days post-hospitalization expenses such as diagnostics and medicines.

2. National Health Protection Scheme:

• The National Health Protection Scheme will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families.
• It will provide coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family, per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
• Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public or private empanelled hospitals across the country.