Ayushman Bharat Health Insurance For Senior Citizens: Who Are Eligible For ₹5 Lakh Coverage?
The Union cabinet has approved health coverage for senior citizens on Wednesday under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. According to union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the scheme will benefit close to six crore senior citizens.
Eligible beneficiaries will get a cover up to ₹5 lakh under the scheme. The scheme is expected to benefit around 4.5 crore families in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the scheme with a post on X saying, “We are committed to ensuring accessible, affordable and top-quality healthcare for every Indian. This scheme will ensure dignity, care and security to six crore citizens!”
Take a look below to find out who all are eligible for the scheme under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
Eligibility
All senior citizens – who are 70 and above are eligible under the scheme. They get a health cover of ₹5 lakh on a family basis.
Additionally, senior citizens who belong to families already under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme, get an additional top up of ₹5 lakh on their health insurance, which is entirely for themselves and does not need to be shared with their family.
Senior citizens with private health insurance can also avail of this scheme
However, senior citizens covered under other public health insurance schemes such as the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), have to make a choice between their existing insurance scheme or the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
All eligible beneficiaries will be issued a distinct card to avail the scheme.
According to the government, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana scheme is the is the world’s largest publicly funded health insurance programme.
Under the programme, a health cover of ₹5 lakh is provided to every eligible family annually and serves close to 55 crore individuals and 12.34 crore families in India.