Over 4.6 lakh people benefited under PMJAY so far: Ayushman Bharat Mission CEO

Over 4.6 lakh people have availed the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in the first 10 weeks of the implementation of the scheme, for which over Rs 600 crore has been authorised so far, Ayushman Bharat Mission CEO Indu Bhushan said on Friday. Addressing the '5th India Health & Wellness Summit, 2018,' here, he said over 10,000 people are getting benefits of the scheme daily and once it is well placed, the number will go up to 30,000.

"Out of the 4.6 lakh beneficiaries, over two-third went to private sector hospitals. The amount authorised so far is over Rs 600 crore and this number is going up exponentially," Bhushan said. The PMJAY, touted as the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ranchi, Jharkhand, on September 23. Under the scheme, over 10 crore families will be provided health insurance worth Rs five lakh each, every year.

Highlighting the "meaningful engagement" of PMJAY with the private sector, Bhushan said out of the 14,000 empanelled hospitals over 8,000 are private ones. "We are providing benefits to more than 10,000 beneficiaries everyday. Once the scheme is well placed and deeply rooted in the system, this number will go up to 30,000 per day," he said.

In an outreach initiative to create awareness about the scheme, the prime minister has written letters to all the 10 crore intended beneficiaries, out of which five crore have been dispatched so far, Bhushan said.

The Ayushman Bharat Mission CEO said PMJAY will prove to be a giant leap towards universal healthcare in the country because of its scale, demand side financing focusing on poor people, collective bargaining, and the role of the private sector in it.

So far, more than 10 lakh calls have been received at the toll free number of the scheme and everyday around 10,000 to 30,000 callers seek information about it, Bhushan said, adding the website of the scheme has got three million unique hits since it was launched.