Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that every senior citizen aged above 70 years of age shall be brought under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat scheme. Due to this, the Prime Minister said, senior citizens above 70 years of age will get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh.
The Prime Minister was speaking during the unveiling of the BJP‘s manifesto in Delhi. He mentioned that the biggest concern for the elderly, especially those belonging to the middle class, is the cost behind treatment for their ailments.
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“The biggest concern of the elderlies is how they will afford treatment for their ailments. This concern is even more serious for the middle class. BJP has now taken the ‘sankalp’ that every individual above 70 years of age will be brought within the purview of Ayushman Bharat Yojana,” Modi said.
During this event, he also said that those belonging to the transgender community will be brought under the purview of Ayushman Bharat. “BJP has decided to bring transgender community also under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat scheme,” he said.
Currently, over 34 crore citizens are getting free health insurance of Rs 5 lakh under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
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About the Ayushman Bharat scheme
The Ayushman Bharat scheme, provides a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to over 80 crore people all over India.The scheme was originally launched by ex-Finance Minister of India late Arun Jaitley during the FY19 Union Budget announcement.
As per its website, “Ayushman Bharat is an attempt to move from sectoral and segmented approach of health service delivery to a comprehensive need-based health care service.”
Under this scheme, facilities like prevention, promotion and ambulatory care at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels are covered. It covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalisation and 15 days post-hospitalisation expenses like diagnostics and medicines.
Pre-existing medical conditions are covered from day one. Benefits of the scheme are portable across India, which implies that a beneficiary can visit any empanelled public/private hospital in India to avail cashless treatment.
Services covered under the Ayushman Bharat include approximately 1,929 procedures covering all the costs related to treatment, including but not limited to drugs, supplies, diagnostic services, physician’s fees, room charges, surgeon charges, OT and ICU charges etc.
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BJP’s focus on women’s health
Besides Ayushman Bharat, the BJP manifesto for the upcoming general elections also laid emphasis on women’s health.
He added that the BJP, if it comes to power for the third term, will run a special campaign to eradicate cervical cancer in India. The manifesto also laid emphasis on the treatment of breast cancer and osteoporosis as well as other ailments among Indian women.
