New Delhi: The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), touted as the world’s largest health scheme, has logged an impressive 5 crore hospital admissions, amounting to a financial commitment of ₹61,501 crore, according to an announcement by the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday.
The scheme, managed by the National Health Authority (NHA) offering an annual health cover of ₹5 lakhs per family, benefits about 12 crore families with access to secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
“AB PM-JAY was instituted with the objective of minimizing medical out-of-pocket expenses for India’s economically disadvantaged communities. In its fifth year of operation, we’ve seen a series of noteworthy achievements for PM-JAY,” the NHA CEO said. “From issuing 9.28 crore Ayushman Cards, fully utilizing allocated funds, to authorizing 1.65 crore hospital admissions, 2022-23 has been a year of remarkable progress.”
Currently, the program is active in 33 of India’s states and Union Territories, with Delhi, Odisha, and West Bengal being the exceptions. An impressive 23.39 crore beneficiaries have already received Ayushman Cards, granting them access to free treatment under the scheme.
The PM-JAY network comprises 28,351 empanelled hospitals, including 12,824 private institutions. The report stated that 56% of total admissions have been approved in private hospitals, with the remaining 44% in public ones in the financial year 2022-23.
Ensuring gender equity in access to healthcare has been a key focus under the scheme. “Approximately 49% of Ayushman Card holders are women, who also account for over 48% of total authorized hospital admissions. The scheme has also reserved over 141 medical procedures exclusively for women,” the statement concluded.
