Odisha becomes 34th State in the country to implement Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY

New Delhi: The National Health Authority (NHA) on Monday signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Odisha to implement Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) in the eastern state.

With this agreement, Odisha has become the latest state to implement the PMJAY in convergence with the Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana Scheme (GJAY) in the Odia heartland. 

Also read |  Expansion of coverage under AB PM-JAY on health minister's 100-day agenda

So far 26 states and all 18 union territories have signed on to the scheme, leaving only Delhi and West Bengal to do so.

A total of 10.3 million families will benefit from the scheme in Odisha, out of which 6.78 million families will be supported by the Central government.

AB PMJAY is the world’s largest health assurance scheme and aims to cover over 500 million poor and vulnerable people with a health coverage of upto ₹5 lakh per family per year.

Historic moment

“Odisha joining the Ayushman Bharat PM JAY scheme is a historic moment. Around 45% of India's population covered under Ayushman Bharat PM JAY scheme. Since 2018, over 8 crore hospitalizations have been recorded under AB PM-JAY. Political ego should not come in the way of States in choosing people centric schemes,” said the union health minister J.P. Nadda.

The minister said that hospitalization has significantly increased in far-flung and remote areas due to access to health facilities aided by AB PMJAY.

A team led by CEO, NHA visited Bhubaneshwar, Odisha last year and met the health minister and chief secretary of the state. 

Also read | One in three PM-JAY hospitals inactive since scheme’s launch

Last year, the union government expanded the PMJAY to provide free treatment of up to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status.

The estimated number of beneficiary families with members aged 70 years and above across the country is 45 million. The number of senior beneficiaries is 60 million.

PMJAY currently has a network of 30,985 empaneled hospitals—both private and public—with a 12,881 share of private healthcare providers. They offer over 2,000 treatment procedures across 27 specialties.