Budget 2024: Ayushman Bharat health insurance cover may be doubled to Rs 10 lakh

Budget 2024: The government is planning to double the insurance cover under its flagship Ayushman Bharat health scheme from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. As per PTI, the centre is also planning to cover serious ailments like cancer and transplants, which need more financial support.

Boost to Ayushman Bharat scheme

The health ministry is also planning to increase the beneficiaries to 100 crore under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). The benefits of the scheme could be extended to Kisan Samman Nidhi recipients, construction workers, non-coal mine workers and ASHA workers in the next three years.

"To ensure that serious illnesses requiring the expenditure of more than Rs 5 lakh such as transplants and high-cost cancer treatments etc. are also covered under AB PMJAY, the ministry is working on finalising a proposal to increase the cover amount from Rs 5 lakh per family per year to Rs 10 lakh per family per year from 2023-24 onwards," the government official told PTI

PTI quoted Health Ministry officials and said that the government would require an additional Rs 12,076 crore per annum to provide Rs 10 lakh to 100 crore beneficiaries. The Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 7,200 crore for FY24.

The budget allocation for FY25 could be doubled to around Rs 15,000 crore.

Ayushman Bharat Scheme

The scheme that was launched in September 2018, is part of the National Health Policy 2017 aims to guarantee Universal Health Coverage. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or PM-JAY scheme under Ayushman Bharat is recognised as the largest health assurance scheme in the world.

According to government statistics, the programme presently has 55 crore individuals, which is equal to 12 crore families. As of December 2023, approximately 28.45 Crore Ayushman Cards have been issued since the inception of the programme. Out of this total, around 9.38 crore Ayushman Cards were generated in 2023 alone.