The Union Budget 2018 presented on 1st February had some major additions and changes but one of the most remarkable announcements has been the Ayushman Bharat Program. Under this, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced two new health initiatives aimed at providing healthcare benefits to a large number of beneficiaries.
Touted as the world’s largest health program, the Ayushman Bharat Program is working towards New India 2022 as the government is gradually progressing towards the goal of Universal Health Coverage. These schemes will not only ensure better health and productivity but will also generate lakhs of jobs, especially for women.
One initiative under the program is the Flagship National Health Protection Scheme which is going to provide health insurance cover worth INR 5 Lakhs per family to more than 10 Crore economically backward families. It’s expected that the scheme could cater to the needs of 50 crore beneficiaries.
Under the second initiative of Ayushman Bharat, the government has announced to create 1.5 Lakh Health and Wellness centers with an aim to “bring healthcare closer to home.” A total amount of INR 1200 Crores has been set aside for providing diagnostic services and essential medicines.
The insurance cover that is going to benefit more than 10 crore families is expected to be groundbreaking for India considering that only 27% Indians have health insurance cover and there hasn’t been much investment from the government on such facilities until now.
Apart from the above-mentioned scheme, the government is also aiming to enhance the offerings under the earlier existing programs like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Bima Yojna and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna. Besides, the government will ensure that more and more medical colleges are established while the existing district hospitals will be upgraded.
