10 days into launch, Ayushman Bharat caters to 23,387 claims worth Rs 38 crore

Modi government's flagship healthcare programme has benefitted more than 23,000 patients within the first ten days of its launch. A total of 23,287 medical insurance claims worth Rs 38.1 crore have been settled with both private and public hospitals under the Pradhan Mandtri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), popularly called Ayuhsmaan Bharat.

Up to 23,299 claims worth Rs 45 crore have been received by October 2, the report further said. According to official data, the average claims size per patient within the first ten days is Rs 19,357, the Hindu BusinessLine reported. In a tweet, Ayushmaan Bharat CEO Indu Bhushan mentioned that 1.7 crore beneficiary letters with family cards from the Prime Minister's Office have been dispatched across the country. In an earlier post, Bhushan said that around 13,000 claims worth Rs 25 crore were received within the first six days of the launch of PMJAY.

By early this week, 32,814 hospitals have applied for empanelment, the report said. Out of them, 13,865 have either already been empanelled or are in the process of empanelment.

The rapid expansion of the scheme is not without hiccups, though. Since the earlier healthcare schemes have been discontinued and Ayushmaan Bharat is yet to gather speed, stakeholders are facing transition woes. Some hospitals are reportedly not able to login to the scheme portal, leading to pending reimbursement claims under Ayuhsmaan Bharat.

Also, Pradhan Mantri Arogya Mitras, or Ayush Mitras, are yet to be appointed in several empanelled hospitals, the report said, hampering the dissemination of Ayushmaan Bharat. Moreover, although 31 states and union territories have accepted the scheme, five states - Delhi, Punjab, Odisha, Kerala and Telangana - have refused to participate in the scheme unless they get more clarity on it.

PM Narendra Modi launched the Aysuhmaan Bharat scheme last month. The scheme offers medical insurance cover worth Rs 5 lakh to poor patients covering pre and post hospitalisation, diagnostics, medication, and transportation costs, among other things. The Ayushmaan Bharat scheme aims to reach 50 crore beneficiaries.