The Presumption
Hither to, the primary Health Care was focusing principally on Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) and communicable diseases. Nonetheless the reality reflected in the public health care system was very much different, where Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) were the major threat. Nearly 62% of deaths among men and 52% deaths among women were due to these non-transmissible ailments. The speciality health care is not affordable and accessible by majority of the populace and very poor penetration of health insurance resulted in nearly 62.5% of the population had to bear the brunt of high and expensive healthcare and hospitalization costs.
The Perception
The insight was to provide Quality and Affordable Health Care to all the families living below poverty line in the country. Onus was on addressing the impediments and barriers of earlier Health Programs like Rashtreeya Swasthya Bima Yojana(RSBY) which failed to penetrate and yield positive results. RSBY which was initiated in 2008 had the target to cover 37.2 percent of the whole Indian Population, but after five years it could reach only 10 percent. RSBY would only enable the poor people to receive inpatient medical care just up to 30 thousand rupees per year. So devising a flawless National Health Protection Scheme for the BPL Population which will enable them to access primary, secondary and tertiary Specialty Health Care was the priority. Therefore, aligned with the views and ideas of our beloved Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modiji a comprehensive Health Care Plan covering more than 10 crore poor and vulnerable families, providing health coverage up to Rs.5 Lakh per family, per year and thereby encompassing approximately 50 crore people.
The Preparation
There were no such mammoth Health Plan anywhere around the globe to compare with; hence a sophisticated and composite course of action and directive plan was laid out. As a result National Health Policy outlined Health and Wellness Centres as the base for establishing this Health Scheme. Ayushman Bharat thus consists two major components, one the Health Protection Scheme itself which aims to cover almost Fifty Crore people and the other important component is Health and Wellness Centres spread across the country. One Lakh Fifty thousand Wellness Centres are planned initially which will provide comprehensive Health Care to the underprivileged. To realize this goal, GOI has initiated a full-bodied plan to upgrade the existing Public Health Centres to well equipped Wellness Centres.
The Implementation
Twenty six state governments and Union Territories have signed Memorandum of Understanding with GOI for providing Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana aka Ayushman Bharat. PM-JAY will cover medical and hospitalization expenses for almost all secondary care and most of tertiary care procedures. PM-JAY has defined 1,350 medical packages covering surgery, medical and day care treatments including medicines, diagnostics and transport. Karnataka initially refused to join Ayushman Bharat because of similar and conflicting state run Health Care Schemes. Now all such schemes in Karnataka have been amalgamated into Ayushman Bharat and rebranded with Arogya Karnataka. GOI has listed 62 lakh families in Karnataka as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) database, but State Government has recognised additional 60 lakh people who come under Arogya Karnataka.
The Penetration
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana was launched on 23rd September 2018. Since then this massive Health Care Program has been successful in reaching the deprived populace. Within a week of its launch PMJAY had reached more than 25,000 people. In Karnataka too, BPL population of each district is receiving Ayushman Bharat E-Cards
AYUSHMAN BHARAT – E Cards Beneficiaries
Places | Beneficiaries |
---|---|
Karwar Divison | 32,500 |
Sirsi Division | 49,000 |
Khanapur Taluk | 12,698 |
Kittur Taluk | 8,100 |
Total | 1,02,298 |
Duration | No of beneficieries | Amount |
---|---|---|
30/10/2018 - 31/03/2019 | 1020 | 1615558 |
01/04/2019 - 31/03/2020 | 13386 | 16941946 |
01/04/2020 - 31/03/2021 | 19741 | 39740223 |
01/04/2021 - 31/03/2022 | 30059 | 50757738 |
01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023 | 50307 | 84170888 |
01/04/2023 - 09/02/2024 | 62966 | 105312884 |
Kittur Taluka | 518 | 1987650 |
Khanapur Taluka | 1040 | 3158820 |