Rajasthan's newly elected BJP government seeks to merge the state's Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme with the Centre’s health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, pending approval from the Union health ministry. The new scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Health Insurance, will retain the current benefits of the Chiranjeevi scheme, offering Rs 25 lakh insurance cover in both private and government hospitals, according to a report by Livemint.
The Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a government health scheme, provides Rs 5 lakh annual health coverage per family. The scheme, particularly for the underprivileged section, issues cashless facilities through a card called- 'Ayushman card' for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. Till December 20, 2023, 284.50 million such cards have been issued, with one-third of them issued in 2023 itself.
The coverage caters to various medical expenses, including secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation at empanelled hospitals, cashless services, three days pre-and 15 days post-hospitalization expenses, including medicines and diagnostics, and more than 1,900 medical procedures. As of October last year, the latest data available on the official website 5,72,23,985 free treatments had been done.
The scheme covers all pre-existing diseases from the very first day, without any restrictions on family size or age.
How To Enroll For Ayushman Bharat?
To benefit from Ayushman Bharat scheme, individuals must possess an Ayushman card that can get them cashless healthcare services. The beneficiaries of this scheme (economically weaker section of society) are based on the Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011, and any other beneficiaries of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) plan, which was merged with the Ayushman Yojana.
Obtaining the Ayushman Card involves a simple process through the 'Ayushman App'. But first, one must first verify their eligibility by visiting the government website for the PM-JAY scheme and clicking on the “Am I Eligible” tab on the homepage to check eligibility.
After entering personal details including name, state, family members, and a one-time password (OTP), the system automatically verifies eligibility for the benefits.
If you are eligible for the benefits, download the official Ayushman app on your phone and log in.
Log in to the app and select the relevant state, scheme (PM-JAY), family ID, Aadhaar, and PMJAY ID, and select the district.
Then download the card if the name of the beneficiary appears in green, or complete the e-KYC process if your name appears in orange.
Authenticate using Aadhaar OTP, or any other options such as fingerprints, IRIS scan, or face authentication.
After authentication, the e-KYC page will open. In the beneficiary photograph option on the top of the screen, click on camera to capture your photo. If it is 100 per cent matching you can download the card then itself.
Otherwise, complete the e-KYC process download the card and show it in empanelled hospitals to avail free medical treatment.
