Guwahati, Sep 25 (PTI) In a bid to increase enrolment under the ‘Ayushman Bharat’, a health insurance scheme, the Assam government will launch an initiative to help eligible people get e-cards under the welfare programme at their nearest state-run health centres, a minister said on Saturday.
State Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said there are 27 lakh eligible families in the state, though all have not been covered under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’ .
The penetration will be increased through the initiative, ‘Aapke Dwar Ayushman’.
“To ensure that eligible beneficiaries can get their e-cards under the scheme at their nearest government health centres, the state government will launch the ‘Aapke Dwar Ayushman’ initiative,” the minister said.
The outreach programme will be taken right up to the health sub-centres and mini public health facilities, he said.
The cashless health insurance scheme provides a coverage of Rs five lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation across public and private empanelled hospitals in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held discussions with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma about the centrally-sponsored health insurance scheme and stressed on the maximum coverage of eligible beneficiaries, Mahanta told reporters.
The ‘Aapke Dwar Ayushman’ has also been launched in states where the coverage under the PM-JAY was found low.
Mahanta also said ‘Arogya Mitra’ help desks will be made more active in hospitals so that patients can easily get cashless treatment facilities.
He also urged people to enrol for the “Atal Amrit Abhiyan” (AAA) run by the state government.
Under the AAA scheme, each person is given cashless medical expense coverage of Rs 2 lakh per annum if annual family income is less than Rs 5 lakh per annum.