In news–The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has recently kickstarted the distribution of PMJAY-MA Yojana Ayushman cards in Gujarat via video conferencing.
About the scheme-
- As the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Prime Minister had started the ‘Mukhyamantri Amrutam (MA)’ scheme in 2012 to shield poor citizens from the catastrophic costs of medical treatment and illness.
- In the year 2014, ‘MA’ Yojana was extended to cover families with an annual income limit of Rs. 4 lakh.
- The scheme was further extended to several other groups as well and later rebranded as Mukhyamantri Amrutam Vatsalya (MAV) Yojana.
- Drawing from the experience of the success of this scheme, the Prime Minister launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in 2018 – the largest health insurance scheme in the world providing coverage of up to Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitalization without any cap on the family size and age.
- With the launch of the AB-PMJAY, Gujarat integrated MA / MAV Yojana with the AB-PM-JAY scheme in 2019 with the name PMJAY-MA Yojana and the beneficiaries under MA/MAV and AB-PMJAY became eligible for co-branded PMJAY-MA cards.
Note:
- Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is a national public health insurance fund of the Government of India that aims to provide free access to health insurance coverage for low income earners in the country.
- Ayushman Bharat adopts a continuum of care approach, comprising of two inter-related components, which are –
- Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs).
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).
- This initiative has been designed to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its underlining commitment, which is to “leave no one behind.”
Further reading: https://journalsofindia.com/ayushman-bharat-pradhan-mantri-jan-arogya-yojana-ab-pmjay/
