Health Insurance Scheme: Free treatment of these serious diseases for the elderly under Ayushman Bharat Yojana, know how to avail the benefits

Health Insurance Scheme: The Ministry clarified that senior citizens aged 70 years or above who are under private health insurance policies or Employees State Insurance Scheme will be eligible to get benefits under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

Free treatment of these serious diseases for the elderly under Ayushman Bharat Yojana, know how to avail the benefits

Health Insurance Scheme for Senior Citizens: Beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat Yojana can get cashless and paperless treatment in more than thousands of listed hospitals across the country.

Ayushman Bharat Yojana is an ambitious health insurance scheme of the government under which lakhs of people are getting free treatment. Under this scheme, now all the elderly above the age of 70 years will also get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh. Irrespective of their financial condition, they can avail the benefits of this scheme. The Union Cabinet has taken this decision with the aim of benefiting about four and a half crore families comprising six crore senior citizens.

These serious diseases will be treated for free

Under this scheme, cancer, heart diseases, kidney diseases, cataract, dengue, malaria, chikungunya, and many other serious diseases are treated for free. Major surgeries like prostate cancer, knee and hip replacement, pediatric surgery, skull base surgery, neurosurgery, etc. for the elderly are also included under the scheme.

The beneficiaries of this scheme can get cashless and paperless treatment in more than thousands of listed hospitals across the country.

Separate health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh for the elderly

If a family already has an Ayushman card holder and there is an elderly person above 70 years of age in that family, then that elderly person will also get additional health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh separately. This scheme has made the lives of millions of people easier and freed them from financial burden.

Health coverage expected to start within a week

Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), health coverage for all senior citizens aged 70 years and above is expected to start within a week. About six crore senior citizens will benefit from this scheme. Official sources gave this information. Sources said that this is an 'application' based scheme for which people will have to register on the PMJAY portal or Ayushman app.

According to an official source, any person aged 70 years or above, irrespective of his income, will be eligible to apply for the scheme. The source said, "Those who already have Ayushman card will have to apply for a new card again and complete their e-KYC again." 

The official source said, "There is no waiting period in this. Once the e-KYC is done, the card will start for use..." The source said, "If the states want to expand or modify the scheme, it is up to them." 

The ministry clarified that senior citizens aged 70 years or above who are under private health insurance policies or Employees State Insurance Scheme will be eligible to get benefits under AB PM-JAY. However, the statement said that those who are already covered under other public health insurance schemes like Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and Ayushman Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will not be eligible to apply for the scheme. Those who are availing the benefit can choose between their existing scheme or AB PM-JAY.