The Union government has approved health coverage to everyone who is 70 and above under the national insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a statement said the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) will benefit 4.5 crore families with six crore senior citizens. The free cover is worth Rs 5 lakh and will be on a family basis.

"With this approval, all senior citizens of the age 70 years and above irrespective of their socio- economic status would be eligible to avail the benefits of AB PM-JAY. The eligible senior citizens would be issued a new distinct card under AB PM-JAY," the government said in the statement.

Senior citizens of the age 70 years and above belonging to families already covered under AB PM-JAY will get an additional top-up cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year for themselves (which they do not have to share with other members of the family who are below the age of 70 years), the government said.

Senior citizens above 70 who are already getting benefits of other public health insurance schemes such as Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), and Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) may either choose their existing scheme or opt for AB PMJAY.

"We are committed to ensuring accessible, affordable and top quality healthcare for every Indian," Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X.

We are committed to ensuring accessible, affordable and top quality healthcare for every Indian. In this context, the Cabinet today has decided to further expand the ambit of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY to provide health coverage for all citizens above 70 years. This scheme will?

? Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 11, 2024

It has been clarified that senior citizens of 70 years and above who are under private health insurance policies or Employees' State Insurance Scheme will be eligible to avail benefits under AB PM-JAY.

The AB PM-JAY is the world's largest publicly funded health assurance scheme which provides health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to 55 crore people, corresponding to 12.34 crore families.

All members of eligible families irrespective of age are covered under the scheme. The scheme has covered 7.37 crore hospital admissions including 49 per cent women beneficiaries. The public has benefited to the extent of over Rs 1 lakh crore under the scheme, the government said.

The expansion of cover to senior citizens of 70 and above was announced by PM Modi in April.

The government said the AB PM-JAY scheme has seen continuous expansion of the beneficiary base. Initially, 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families comprising the bottom 40 per cent of India's population were covered under the scheme.

Later, the government in January 2022 revised the beneficiary base under AB PM-JAY from 10.74 crore to 12 crore families considering India's decadal population growth of 11.7 per cent over 2011 population.

The scheme was further expanded to cover 37 lakh ASHAs/AWWs/AWHs working across the country and their families for free healthcare benefits. Taking the mission ahead, AB PM-JAY would now provide free healthcare coverage of Rs 5 lakh to  all citizens of the age-group of 70 years and above across the country.