Lok Sabha Question No. 1976 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-06
Subject: Health Coverage for Senior Citizen under PM-JAY
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Smt. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOF HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1976 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06 TH DECEMBER, 2024

## HEALTH COVERAGE FOR SENIOR CITIZEN UNDER PM-JAY

## 1976. SMT. KANIMOZHI KARUNANIDHI:

Will the Minister of HEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of senior citizens aged 70 years and above who have benefitted from expanded PM-JAY health cover since the inception of the said scheme, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the details of age-specific health services under the new initiative;
- (c) the details of the data on senior citizens aged 70 years and above who are able to pay for medical expenses but are still covered under the said scheme; and
- (d) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government for awareness campaigns of the said health cover?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a): As on 02.12.2024, a total of 17,978 senior citizens aged 70 years and above have availed the benefits under Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). State/UTwise details of number of senior citizens aged 70 years and above who have availed the benefits under the scheme are at Annexure .

(b): In the latest national master of the Health Benefit Package (HBP), the scheme provides cashless healthcare services related to 1961 procedures across 27 medical specialties including General Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopaedics, Cardiology, Oncology etc. which can be availed by different age groups. Among these, treatment services like Hemodialysis / Peritoneal Dialysis, Acute Ischemic Stroke, Accelerated hypertension, Total Hip Replacement, Total Knee Replacement, Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA), inclusive of diagnostic angiogram, Single Chamber Permanent Pacemaker Implantation, Double Chamber Permanent Pacemaker Implantation, etc. are available to eligible senior citizens as well. Further, States have been provided flexibility to further customize the Health Benefit Packages to local context.

(c): Since the scheme ' s mandate is to provide free treatment benefits of up to ₹5 lakh per year on a family basis to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status, the data specific to socio-economic categories is not maintained.

Further, to ensure that beneficiaries claim benefits under only one government-funded scheme, two validations are implemented. Firstly, the beneficiaries must declare that they are not receiving free healthcare services under any other scheme partially or fully funded by the Government of India or State Government. Secondly, if the beneficiaries indicate they are covered under another scheme, they have the option to either retain their current scheme coverage or choose to avail benefits under AB-PMJAY. This choice is one-time and final.

However, coverage under private health insurance policy would not be a bar for availing the benefits of AB-PMJAY scheme for senior citizens. Further, beneficiaries of Employees' State Insurance Scheme would also remain eligible under the scheme.

(d): Senior citizens are issued a separate Ayushman card as Ayushman Vay Vandana card. Various activities to raise awareness about Ayushman Vay Vandana among senior citizens and their families were conducted including several radio and television campaigns, social media campaign, print media advertisement, radio and television interviews, advertisement, etc. Further, Government of India has issued directions to the States to undertake extensive IEC activities to raise the awareness about the expansion of AB-PMJAY for all senior citizens of the age 70 years and above.

## State/UT-wise details of number of senior citizens aged 70 years and above who have availed the benefits under the scheme

| State/UT          |   Number of hospital admissions |
|-------------------|---------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh    |                               1 |
| Assam             |                             115 |
| Bihar             |                             835 |
| Chandigarh        |                              28 |
| Chhattisgarh      |                             133 |
| DNH&DD            |                               1 |
| Goa               |                              98 |
| Gujarat           |                             720 |
| Haryana           |                            1543 |
| Himachal Pradesh  |                             283 |
| Jammu And Kashmir |                              12 |
| Karnataka         |                               4 |
| Kerala            |                             403 |
| Ladakh            |                               6 |
| Madhya Pradesh    |                            2111 |
| Maharashtra       |                               5 |
| Manipur           |                             148 |
| Meghalaya         |                               1 |
| Nagaland          |                               4 |
| Puducherry        |                               7 |
| Punjab            |                             432 |
| Sikkim            |                               9 |
| Tamil Nadu        |                              11 |
| Tripura           |                              28 |
| Uttar Pradesh     |                           10893 |
| Uttarakhand       |                             147 |

Note: Centrally available data as on 02.12.2024

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