Telengana out of Ayushman Bharat scheme for now

Telangana has not joined the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana PMJAY- Ayushman Bharat, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jharkhand Sunday 'as of now' and would continue to implement its health scheme, official sources said.

One of the reasons for not joining it for the time being was because the state's Aarogyasri scheme covers nearly 80 lakh families, official sources said.

"We already have the Aarogyasri scheme. As of now, Telangana is not participating in the (central government's) scheme," they told PTI.

Asked when the Centre's flagship Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme would be implemented in Telangana, the official said "as of now Aarogyasri scheme will continue," adding Telangana's health coverage model is a robust programme.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (PMJAY) aims to provide a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually, benefiting more than 10 crore poor families.

Eligible people can avail the benefits in the government and listed private hospitals.

Billed as the world's largest government healthcare programme, it will be funded with 60% contribution coming from the Centre and remaining from the states.

The scheme targets poor, deprived rural families and identified the occupational category of urban workers' families, 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas, as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data.

The scheme will cover around 50 crore people and there is no cap on family size and age in the scheme ensuring that nobody is left out.

Over 8,735 hospitals, both public and private, have been empanelled for the scheme, and as many as 31 states and union territories have signed MoUs with the Centre and will implement the programme.

The Health Ministry has included 1,354 packages in the scheme under which treatment for coronary bypass, knee replacements and stenting, among others, would be provided at 15-20 per cent cheaper rates than the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).

(With PTI inputs)