Amidst the expensive treatment and increasing healthcare expenses in India, the government’s flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has come as a big relief. But now there has been such an upgrade in this scheme which has given double the security cover to lakhs of families. Whereas earlier under PM-JAY, health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh per family was available, now many families will be able to get a total treatment coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh. The special thing is that this benefit will be available only to those families who fulfill an important condition.
What is Ayushman Bharat?
Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY is the flagship health insurance scheme of the Central Government, which aims to protect poor and vulnerable families from the expense of expensive and critical treatments. Under this scheme, families get a cashless health cover of Rs 5 lakh per year, which is applicable in thousands of empaneled hospitals across the country. This includes treatment of all serious, secondary and tertiary level diseases. Also all pre-existing diseases are covered from the very beginning.
Who comes in the cover?
The scope of the family under this scheme is quite large. This includes spouse, children (including newborn), parents, grandparents, siblings, in-laws and other dependent members living with the family. That means there is no limit on the number of family members nor any restriction on age or gender.
Extra Top-up for 70+ Senior Citizens
The government has made a major change last year. Every member above 70 years of age will be given a separate health cover of additional Rs 5 lakh. That is, if the family is already covered under PM-JAY and any member in the family is of 70+ age, then he will get a separate and additional top-up of Rs 5 lakh. In this way, the total health cover of such a family reaches Rs 10 lakh.
What are the conditions for 70+ top-up?
- The age of the person should be 70 years or more.
- Proof of age will be taken from Aadhar card.
- The eligible person will only have to get his Aadhaar eKYC done again.
What other benefits do senior citizens get?
- No age limit i.e. full benefits even at the age of 80 years or above
- Free Annual Health Check-up
- Covers secondary to advanced tertiary treatment, such as surgery, specialist treatment, organ transplant etc.