Ayushman Bharat: JK govt issues Golden Cards to over 16 lakh families
Srinagar: Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have issued Golden Cards to over 16 lakh families under the Ayushman Bharat scheme that has transformed the healthcare facilities for residents of the union territory.
Officials said 16.38 lakh families have been covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
“As per the data available, till date 60 lakh Golden cards have been generated and 16.36 lakhs families have been registered with at least one family member verified under PM-JAY and AB-PMJAY-SEHAT Scheme,” the officials said.
They said this has removed the burden out-of-pocket expenses as PMJAY aims to make the entire process of paying for healthcare cashless.
All public and empanelled private hospitals have been directed to not charge any extra payment for medical care from all PMJAY beneficiaries to reduce corruption or delay in services, the officials said.
Under AB-PMJAY and AB-PMJAY SEHAT, during the current policy period, 1,47,582 cases have already been benefited amounting to Rs 221.66 Crore, out of which Rs 129.83 Crore have already been paid to the hospitals by the insurance company, thus ensuring free of cost specialized treatment to all.
In order to provide best and advanced health care facilities to the people of Jammu & Kashmir, the government launched AB-PMJAY SEHAT scheme in convergence with the Central Government’s AB-PMJAY scheme to provide free of cost ‘Universal Health Insurance Coverage’ up to Rs. 5 lakh per family on a floater basis.
After the successful start of this scheme, the government launched massive public outreach campaign ‘One person one Golden card’ to raise awareness regarding this flagship scheme and enroll maximum people in it.
The ‘One person one Golden card’ campaign targets the distribution of 58 lakh Golden cards under the AB-PMJAY & AB-PMJAY-SEHAT health insurance schemes, among the beneficiaries by organizing special camps at the Panchayat level.
The aim is to cover the poor families from rural background and ensure greater coverage with easy access to affordable healthcare facilities during health emergencies.
Among the 10-point campaign, specific focus has been laid to step up the targeted delivery of healthcare schemes for the poor and to ensure 100 per cent saturation of eligible beneficiaries in a mission mode.
There is no cap on family size and age as this health cover is inclusive for all. Moreover this scheme holds women, children especially girls and those over 60 years of age in special regard.
The scheme provides those in need to get secondary healthcare benefits offered by specialists like cardiologists and urologists. Moreover, advanced medical treatment like that for cancer, cardiac surgery and others is also covered.
Additionally, the beneficiaries under this scheme can seek treatment across India. This scheme covers pre-existing illness and makes mandatory treatment in all public hospitals.
Since the scheme covers such a large population, it will be purchasing services from private healthcare providers. This scheme also encourages the production of more affordable healthcare equipment and drugs.
Press Trust of India
