‘4 lakh elderly women above 70 enrol for Ayushman cards, 1,400 females get treatment benefits’

New Delhi, Nov 18
About four lakh elderly women aged 70 and above have enrolled for the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card in the last three weeks since its launch in October-end, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday.

Of these, more than 1,400 females have benefitted from the manifold treatments under the scheme, the Ministry said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 29, rolled out the Ayushman Vay Vandana scheme -- an extension of the flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

The new scheme aims to provide senior citizens with free healthcare benefits, in addition to the existing AB PM-JAY family scheme. Under the new scheme, the elderly will have a separate cover of Rs 5 lakh per year.

In the three weeks of its launch “more than 10 lakh senior citizens aged 70 and above have enrolled”, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

“Around 4 lakh enrolments under Ayushman Vay Vandana card are by females. Since the launch of the Ayushman Vay Vandana Card, treatments worth over Rs 9 crore have been authorised, benefiting more than 4,800 senior citizens aged 70 and above, including over 1,400 women,” it added.

The ministry noted that treatments under the scheme include a range of conditions such as coronary angioplasty, hip fractures/replacement, gallbladder removal, cataract surgery, prostate resection, and stroke, among others.

PM-JAY is the world’s largest health assurance scheme, extending comprehensive secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually. It will benefit nearly 55 crore individuals that form the bottom 40 per cent of the population in the country.

More than Rs. 1.1 lakh crore has been spent in providing free hospitalisation under the flagship PM-JAY since its inception in 2018.

It covers a broad range of services that include medical examinations, treatment, and consultations; pre-hospitalisation expenses, medicine, and medical consumables; non-intensive and intensive care services; diagnostic and laboratory investigations; medical implantation services; accommodation and food services; treatment complications and post-hospitalisation follow-up care up to 15 days.

Importantly, PM-JAY has no cap on family size or age. It also ensures that pre-existing diseases are covered from day one, allowing patients to receive treatment immediately upon enrolment.