{"id":42406,"date":"2025-10-27T12:28:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T06:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=42406"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:11:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T09:41:34","slug":"expansion-of-ayushman-bharat-health-insurance-for-senior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/expansion-of-ayushman-bharat-health-insurance-for-senior\/","title":{"rendered":"Expansion of Ayushman Bharat Health Insurance for Senior"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)?<\/li>\n<li>What is Ayushman Bharat health insurance for senior citizens?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Union Cabinet has cleared the <strong>expansion <\/strong>of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to provide health coverage to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above irrespective of their income.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Launched in September 2018, the scheme aimed to offer secondary and tertiary care services to the vulnerable population in the society.<\/li>\n<li>It was launched as a second component of the \u2018Ayushman Bharat\u2019 scheme.<\/li>\n<li>This scheme aimed to offer medical coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to poor and vulnerable families.<\/li>\n<li>The scheme covers over nearly 40% of the population targeted towards poorest and the vulnerable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eligibility<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The scheme is targeted to cover 10.74 crore poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban worker\u2019s families.<\/li>\n<li>The beneficiaries as identified by latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Benefits<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It provides cashless access to health care services for the beneficiary at the point of service, i.e., the hospital.<\/li>\n<li>Under the scheme every eligible family will be given Rs 5 lakh Insurance coverage benefit per year.<\/li>\n<li>It offers Health Benefit Packages which covers surgery, medical and day care treatments, cost of medicines and diagnostics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Role of National Health Authority (NHA)<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>NHA is the apex body responsible for implementing India\u2019s flagship public health insurance\/assurance scheme \u2013 AB PMJAY.<\/li>\n<li>It has been entrusted with the role of:\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>designing strategy, building technological infrastructure and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>implementation of National Digital Health Mission to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.<\/li>\n<li>To implement the scheme at the State level, State Health Agencies (SHAs) in the form of a society\/trust have been set up by respective States.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Performance<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/Performance_of_AB_PMJAY_9535fc6cf7.webp\" alt=\"Performance of AB-PMJAY.webp\" \/><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>What is Ayushman Bharat health insurance for senior citizens?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About the news<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Union Cabinet has expanded the AB PM-JAY to provide health coverage to people aged 70 years and above, regardless of their income level, public healthcare.<\/li>\n<li>Currently, the scheme is income-based and provides Rs 5 lakh shared annual coverage to all members of eligible families, irrespective of their age.\n<ul>\n<li>In its current form, the scheme is estimated to comprise the bottom 40 per cent of the population economically.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Extension of the scheme<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The extension will now cover all citizens aged <strong>70 years and above<\/strong>, offering <strong>Rs 5 lakh annual coverage per family<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>This expansion is expected to benefit an additional <strong>6 crore elderly people<\/strong> from <strong>4.5 crore families<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coverage under new plan<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Senior citizens aged 70 and above, and belonging to families already covered under AB PM-JAY, will get an additional (shared) top-up cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year for themselves.\n<ul>\n<li>Shared top-up coverage &#8211; If there are two senior citizens (70 years+) in a family, then the Rs 5 lakh coverage will be shared between them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Those benefiting from other public health insurance schemes like <strong>CGHS<\/strong>, <strong>ECHS<\/strong>, or <strong>Ayushman CAPF<\/strong> can either continue with their current schemes or opt for AB PM-JAY.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Additionally, senior citizens under <strong>private health insurance policies<\/strong> or the <strong>Employees\u2019 State Insurance Scheme <\/strong>will also be eligible to avail the benefits of AB PM-JAY.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Other features<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>This is a demand-based scheme; as the demand goes up, the coverage will also be increased.<\/li>\n<li>Each beneficiary aged 70 and above will receive a new health card, ensuring streamlined access to healthcare benefits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Benefits<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>This expansion is expected to provide substantial relief to a demographic that often struggles with managing disease burdens without a reliable social security net.<\/li>\n<li>This move is essential as India witnesses a shift towards nuclear family structures, where the financial burden on elderly individuals is more pronounced.<\/li>\n<li>Although the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/ayushman-bharat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Ayushman Bharat scheme<\/strong><\/a> aimed at universal health coverage, this will be the first age group to receive full coverage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What is the new expansion in Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY for senior citizens?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Union Cabinet has expanded Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY to cover all citizens aged 70 and above, offering an additional Rs 5 lakh annual health coverage. This will benefit around 6 crore elderly people, enhancing their access to healthcare and reducing financial burdens.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. How will the extension impact senior citizens under other health schemes?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Senior citizens aged 70 and above, currently under schemes like CGHS, ECHS, or private insurance, can either continue with their existing coverage or opt for the expanded Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, providing them flexibility and additional healthcare benefits.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/senior-citizens-covered-ayushman-bharat-health-insurance-scheme-9562620\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cabinet clears health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for all aged 70 years and above<\/a> |<a href=\"https:\/\/nha.gov.in\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">National Health Authority<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/all-senior-citizens-above-70-brought-under-ayushman-bharat\/article68631362.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hindu<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesstoday.in\/personal-finance\/insurance\/story\/ayushman-bharat-health-insurance-for-senior-citizens-how-it-works-who-are-eligible-and-what-it-will-cost-445542-2024-09-12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Business Today<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Cabinet has extended Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, offering Rs 5 lakh annual health coverage to all citizens aged 70 and above. Learn how this expansion benefits 6 crore elderly individuals and their families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}