Gandhinagar: Under the ‘Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya-Mukhulamatri Amrutam’ scheme in Gujarat, more than 1.99 crore beneficiaries have been covered through Ayushman cards so far.

More than 58 lakh patients have received free treatment under this scheme in Gujarat, resulting in savings of over Rs.11,590 crore for patients. Integration of the world’s largest health insurance cover “Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana” (PMJAY) and Gujarat’s “Mukhyamtri Amrutam” (MA) Yojana under PMJAY-MA provides cashless treatment for 2,471 scheduled procedures in 2,495 empaneled hospitals, as listed by the health department, as stated.

Since September 2021, more than 1.37 crore beneficiaries have been given new Ayushman cards. Apart from this, Gujarat has also received the ‘Ayushman Excellence Award 2022’ from the Government of India for producing the highest number of Ayushman cards under the PMJAY-MA scheme.

Recently, the Government of India has also awarded the “Ayushman Excellence Award 2023” award to Gujarat for the best practice during the year 2022-23. At present, 1,709 government, 768 private, and 18 Government of India hospitals are affiliated with a total of 2,495 hospitals. In which approximately 3,509 pre-oath cases are placed for treatment daily. It has been further stated that the ‘State Anti-Fraud Unit’ (SAFU) has been formed to ensure that no malpractice occurs in the implementation of this scheme while continuous monitoring of hospitals is also done by this unit.

It is worth mentioning that the then Chief Minister Narendrabhai Modi, launched the ‘Ma Amritham Yojana’ in September 2012 to provide affordable health care to the poor and middle-class citizens of the state and to reduce the cost of medical services. In the year 2014, this scheme was extended to families with an annual income of Rs. 4 lakhs. After the success of this scheme in Gujarat, Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi has implemented ‘Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Janarogya Yojana’ (AB PMJAY) across the country in the year 2018. Which is the largest health plan in the world. Apart from free medical services at government health centers under this scheme, poor and middle-class citizens are also availing health services at private hospitals.

With ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’, the Gujarat Government integrated ‘Mukhyamantri Amritam’ (MA) and ‘Mukhyamantri Amritam Vatsalya’ (MAV) Yojana in the year 2019, and all the beneficiaries of these schemes are given an Ayushman card in “Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana”. Under this scheme, each member of the family is given an individual “Ayushman Card”. In which the families meeting the prescribed criteria will get Rs. 10 lakh free health cover is provided. With the help of this scheme, the beneficiaries can get free treatment at the time of need from common ailments to organ transplant, heart treatment, cancer, etc. at selected private and government hospitals around their residence.