Free hospitalisation benefits worth over Rs 1.29 lakh crore have been provided to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) since the scheme was rolled out in September 2018.
More than 90 million people have so far benefitted from the PMJAY scheme, which offers Rs 5,00,000-a-year free health cover, according to official data. The scheme was made available for 107 million poor households in the country in 2018, roughly covering the bottom 40% of the population.
When the scheme was launched, an estimated 62% of healthcare costs were borne out of pocket, pushing millions of Indians into poverty every year. Since then, it has come down substantially, according to the government.
People from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat were the top beneficiaries under the scheme.
In September 2024, the government extended Rs 5 lakh-a-year free health cover to all senior citizens above 70 years, irrespective of income status, under the PMJAY scheme. The move would benefit approximately 60 million senior citizens.
Under PMJAY, close to 2,000 procedures are available for beneficiaries to get cashless treatment, which includes all the costs related to treatment, medicines, supplies, diagnostic services, physician’s fees, room charges, surgeon charges, OT & ICU charges, etc.
The top speciality care treatments availed by beneficiaries to date are general medicine, infectious diseases, general surgery, medical oncology, ophthalmology and orthopaedics.
Among the procedures availed by the people, are hemodialysis, screening for Covid-19, multiple packages and acute febrile illness.
More than 400 million Ayushman cards have been issued to beneficiaries so far. As many as 31,907 public and private hospitals are empanelled under PM-JAY.
Considering that many people in the country are just one medical bill away from slipping into poverty, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has recommended that the PM-JAY scheme should be extended to the ‘missing middle’ on a paid basis.
According to a Niti Aayog report unveiled in October 2021, at least 30% of the population, or 400 million individuals — called the missing middle in this report – are devoid of any financial protection for health.