The birth of a baby girl in a Haryana hospital on Saturday, 1 September, led her father, Amit Kumar to become the first beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) when the hospital was reimbursed Rs 9,000 for her birth.
Dinesh Arora, deputy chief executive officer, Ayushman Bharat broke the news with a tweet, saying that Baby Karishma’s birth at the Kalpana Chawla hospital in Haryana was the first claim made under the scheme.
The scheme, which aims to provide Rs 5 lakh cashless health insurance cover per family per year for hospitalisation to 10.74 crore families, is set to be formally launched on 25 September across India, but pilots have been announced in 106 districts of the country, including all of Haryana, reports The Indian Express.
Referring to baby Karishma’s birth, Dr Saket Kumar, CEO of the State Health Agency that is responsible for implementation of the PMJAY in Haryana, told The Indian Express, that it was “a set of lucky coincidences that made Kumar the first beneficiary”.
“The way the scheme has been structured, beneficiaries do not really need to know about their entitlements. All they need to do is approach an Ayushman Mitra (field workers assisting the government) with an identification document — in Kumar’s case it was a ration card — and if his name features on the SECC database, things will automatically get rolling. At present, 450 beneficiaries across the state have approached us and there are 35 claims that will be settled in the next one or two days,” he said.
What Is Ayushman Bharat?
Announced in the Union Budget 2018 as the National Health Protection Mission or “Ayushman Bharat”, the PMJAY will provide annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh to about 10.74 crore families, The Indian Express reports.
The scheme has no cap on the size of the family and all pre-existing conditions are taken into consideration. Those “entitled” to the provisions under the scheme will be decided on the basis of the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, the report adds.
Additionally, once identified, the beneficiaries would then receive the cover three days before hospitalisation and up until 15 days following discharge from the hospital, according to this scheme, Hindustan Times reports.
The scheme covers about 1,354 packages from more than 20 specialities, the report adds.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and Hindustan Times)
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