Interim Budget 2024: Govt may double insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme ahead of LS polls

Interim Budget 2024-25: The Centre may double the insurance cover under its flagship Ayushman Bharat health scheme to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 5 lakh. The government is planning to cover serious ailments like cancer and transplants, which need more financial support, news agency PTI reported. An announcement in this regard can be expected in the interim Union Budget on February 1, sources in the Union Health Ministry said.   

"To ensure that serious illnesses requiring the expenditure of more than Rs 5 lakh such as transplants and high-cost cancer treatments etc. are also covered under AB PMJAY, the ministry is working on finalising a proposal to increase the cover amount from Rs 5 lakh per family per year to Rs 10 lakh per family per year from 2023-24 onwards," the government official said.

The health ministry is also planning to double the beneficiaries to 100 crore under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and extend the benefits to Kisan Samman Nidhi recipients, construction workers, non-coal mine workers and ASHA workers in the next three years.

At present, the health insurance cover offers Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. 

Ayushman Bharat, launched in September 2018, is part of the National Health Policy 2017. Its main objective is to guarantee Universal Health Coverage. Under Ayushman Bharat, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or PM-JAY is recognized as the largest health assurance scheme in the world.

According to government statistics, the programme presently has 55 crore individuals, which is equal to 12 crore families. Moreover, various states and union territories that have adopted AB PM-JAY have independently expanded the number of recipients, bearing the cost themselves. 

Government data reveals that as of December 20, 2023, approximately 28.45 Crore Ayushman Cards have been issued since the inception of the programme. Out of this total, around 9.38 crore Ayushman Cards were generated in 2023 alone. 

For the Rs 10-lakh coverage per family per year and to expand the beneficiary base to 100 crore individuals, the Centre would need an additional allocation of Rs 12,076 crore per annum, the official estimated. At present, the budget allocated for Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY for FY2023-24 is Rs 7,200 crore. This is expected to be doubled to around Rs 15,000 crore in the financial year 2025.

In the Union Budget 2023, the budget allocated under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the national public health insurance fund, was increased by 12 per cent to Rs 7,200 crore from Rs 6,000 crore revised estimates for FY2022-23.

Also read: Interim Budget 2024: Will the govt hike Ayushman Bharat insurance cover? Here's what we know