JK’s Ayushman Bharat SEHAT Scheme: A Beacon of Hope
KV Feature
Malik Mehak recalls the long and challenging battle her family faced in arranging finances for her mother’s dialysis treatment, until the Government launched the Ayushmann Bharat SEHAT Scheme, which has alleviated them of the entire financial burden.
“Arranging finances for my mother’s dialysis used to be a cumbersome process. Now, with the Golden card provided under the Ayushman Bharat SEHAT Scheme, it has come as a messiah for poor families like ours,” she expressed.
Similarly, Chahat Ahmed Khan hails the Golden card under the Ayushman Bharat SEHAT Scheme as a true blessing that enabled her to arrange eye surgery for her mother at a reputed hospital without incurring any treatment costs.
“Speechless and grateful! Thanks to the Ayushman Bharat SEHAT Scheme, my mother’s eye surgery became a reality. The Golden card is truly a blessing! Thank you, Government, for this revolutionary scheme,” Chahat Ahmed Khan remarked.
With universal free health insurance coverage of Rs. 5 lakh, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana SEHAT Scheme has emerged as a beacon of hope, particularly for poor families who couldn’t afford healthcare at prestigious medical institutions.
Notably, the State Health Agency in Jammu and Kashmir has been recognized as the ‘best performing’ entity in gender equality, enrollment under PMJAY Ayushman Bharat, the highest number of Ayushman card creations, and full utilization of allocated funds.
The J&K SHA received awards in all four segments, including gender equity in service delivery, covering over 90% of families with at least one Ayushman card, prompt Anti-Fraud Action, full utilization of allocated funds, and the highest number of Ayushman card creations.
In an effort to extend the benefits of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY to all residents of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, encompassing more than 20 lakh families, the AB PM-JAY SEHAT scheme was launched by the Honorable Prime Minister of India on December 26, 2020, with National Portability.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the scheme is implemented through an insurance model, with Private insurance vendor serving as the implementing agency for Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) and AB PM-JAY SEHAT. It’s worth noting that this is the first time that a publicly funded health insurance scheme meant for the entire population is being implemented in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The main features of the scheme are as follows:
– Ayushman Bharat “Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana” (PMJAY) – SEHAT primarily focuses on providing financial protection from catastrophic health expenditures, a key pillar of Universal Health Coverage. The scheme offers both public and private healthcare providers for delivering secondary and tertiary care health services.
The scheme provides a cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year, encompassing all medical and surgical conditions with minimal exclusions.
It covers both pre and post-hospitalization expenses, and all pre-existing conditions are covered from day one.
The cashless treatment facility provided by the Central Government under ABPMJAY-SEHAT scheme, following the abrogation of Article 370, has substantially reduced out-of-pocket expenditures and financial hardship for poor and underserved families, particularly in cases of severe and prolonged illnesses requiring expensive treatment.
With significant health insurance coverage for the population of the Union Territory, J&K has been recognized as the best-performing Union Territory in terms of enrollment under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
SHA has also introduced a citizen-friendly facility for obtaining Golden cards from the comfort of their homes. Citizens can visit the website setu.pmjay.gov.in, register themselves and their families with details of ration cards issued by the Food and Supply Department, J&K, and download their Golden cards.
Previously, SHA conducted an ambitious door-to-door campaign to achieve 100 percent saturation under the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY SEHAT scheme. The AB-PMJAY SEHAT Scheme has become a ray of hope for poor families who previously couldn’t afford healthcare treatment at prestigious and well-known medical institutes across the country.
