The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to bring senior citizens above 70 years of age under the ambit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. Now, after this approval, all senior citizens above 70 years of age will be able to get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh every year under this scheme.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved health coverage to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above regardless of income under the flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). It aims to benefit about 4.5 crore families with six crore senior citizens with free health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh on family basis.
AB-PMJAY is already providing free healthcare services to around 55 crore people. It is the world’s largest government health insurance scheme, which aims to provide health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh every year to 12 crore families to help them in case of need for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.
After this new announcement, now the elderly above 70 years of age will directly benefit from this scheme. Recently, President Draupadi Murmu, while addressing the Parliament, said that the aim of the government is that every elderly above 70 years of age should get the benefit of this scheme and they can get free treatment. With this decision, the elderly will get better health services and the burden of their treatment will be reduced on their families.