10 lakh senior citizens enrol for Ayushman Vay Vandana cards in 3 weeks, 4 lakh of them women

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) The Centre on Saturday informed that more than 10 lakh senior citizens, aged 70 and above, have enrolled for the newly-launched Ayushman Vay Vandana card within three weeks of its launch.

This scheme would enable them to access free healthcare benefits under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

The Ayushman Vay Vandana scheme was rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 29.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, around 4 lakh women have enrolled under the Ayushman Vay Vandana scheme.

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. These treatments cover a range of conditions, including coronary angioplasty, hip fractures/replacement, gallbladder removal, cataract surgery, prostate resection, and stroke, among others.

This scheme is in addition to the existing AB PM-JAY family scheme, wherein the elderly will have a separate cover of Rs 5 lakh per year.

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

The official data showed earlier this month that more than 79 million individuals have benefited from the PM-JAY scheme that provides an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh. It has significantly enhanced healthcare accessibility for India’s most vulnerable populations.

"The scheme was made available for 107 million poor households in the country from September 2018, covering the bottom of 40 per cent population," as per the data.

PM-JAY provides cashless treatment to nearly 2,000 procedures. The scheme covers all the costs related to treatment, medicines, supplies, diagnostic services, physician’s fees, room charges, surgeon charges, OT and ICU charges, etc.

According to the data, more than 35.5 crore Ayushman Cards have been issued to eligible individuals, enabling them to access healthcare at 30,672 empanelled public and private hospitals. The scheme was expanded to include senior citizens above 70, regardless of income. It will potentially benefit around 6 crore individuals across 4.5 crore families.

--IANS

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