(MENAFN- Live Mint) "New Delhi: The government has started work on extending its health insurance scheme for the poor, the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), to cover everyone over 70 years of age irrespective of their income level -- not just the poor.
The scheme could make it to the full-year budget for FY25 as a poll promise by the Bharatiya Janata Party, two persons informed about discussions in the government said interim budget for FY25 allocated ₹7,500 crore for the scheme, a more than 10% increase over the amount spent in the just- concluded financial year.
The scheme in its current form gives beneficiaries an insurance coverage of ₹5 lakh person per year on a means-tested basis – to qualify, the individual's annual income must not exceed ₹2.4 lakh the coverage of the scheme to include everyone above 70 years of age by removing the income cap could cost the exchequer an additional ₹15,000 crore– ₹20,000 crore a year as per preliminary estimates, said one of the persons quoted above the figure for the over-70 population was not immediately available, as per the UN state of world population report of 2023, 7% of India's over 1.4 billion people are aged 65 years or above the BJP has thus far steered clear of announcing populist measures in its manifesto and stuck to the path of fiscal prudence, improving access to quality healthcare, especially for the middle class, is a key element of the party's welfare agenda, rolled out in 2018, is the largest health assurance scheme in the world. It seeks to provide a health cover of ₹5 lakh a year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to over 120 million poor families – or the 550 million individuals who make up the bottom 40% of the Indian population.
Surgeries such as knee replacements, hip replacements, and congenital heart diseases are in demand under the scheme. The Union health ministry is also planning to expand the scope of the scheme, covering more expensive cancer and transplant-related surgeries and treatments official with the National Health Authority said the agency is preparing to issue health cards to everybody above the age of 70 years. The official declined to comment on the union budget for FY25.
“Since many aged people find it difficult to buy health insurance policies, government seeking to ensure their healthcare coverage is a welcome decision,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, a public health expert.
\"Many people in this age group find medical insurance expensive, many people are made to pay extra or denied treatment. Right to health and healthcare should be universal irrespective of age. Since the public hospitals are always over-crowded, septuagenarians and older people can avail of the facilities in private hospitals,\" Jayadevan said said instances of people who are not eligible but access the scheme with fake IDs have been a concern.“Very large number of people, including affluent people are misusing it, which should not be allowed,\" he added.
Some private hospitals have raised the concern that payment from the government at times gets delayed. \"People aged above 70 years are more likely to have more health conditions and their treatment can be costlier, so the government needs to resolve this matter on priority else hospitals will not accept patients,\" said Jayadevan.
MENAFN23042024007365015876ID1108128551
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.