Firdous Hassan
Srinagar: Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme is turning out to be a game-changer in Jammu and Kashmir with over 15 lakh people registering so far to avail cashless health insurance benefits.
Jammu and Kashmir has become only the second state/ union territory after Maharashtra to provide free and cashless health insurance cover to the entire population and remit annual premium from its own kitty.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally e-launched the scheme in Jammu and Kashmir under which every citizen of the union territory irrespective of his/her economic and social background will receive a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh.
Over 15 lakh people have registered in Jammu and Kashmir so far under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and SEHAT schemes.
“We had already registered some 30 percent of the population from September 22 under PMJAY scheme. Now the rest of the 70 percent too will be covered under the SEHAT scheme. Till today 5,000 people have been registered under the scheme and we are expecting the number to go up in coming days,” Chief Executive Officer Ayushman Bharat Jammu and Kashmir Bhupinder Kumar told The Kashmir Monitor.
He said the fast track approval of the golden cards too has begun for ensuring speedy benefit to every cardholder.
“We have empanelled 229 hospitals including 35 private hospitals in the UT. Moreover, more than 23000 hospitals have been empanelled countrywide to provide healthcare facility to a beneficiary registered under this scheme,” Kumar said.
He said to intensify the process of registration, the Common Service Centers (CSC) are functioning to cover the entire population in Jammu and Kashmir.
Under ‘SEHAT’, there shall be no restriction on the family size or age and all the pre-existing medical conditions shall be covered under the scheme. The scheme shall cover 3 days of pre-hospitalization, hospitalization, and 15 days of post-hospitalization including diagnostic care and expenditure on medicines.
The CEO of Ayushman Bharat Jammu and Kashmir said they have deputed ‘consultants Arogya Mitra’ in every hospital to identify and register people coming for the treatment.
“Even if a person has not registered, our Arogya Mitra will identify him and register him on-the-spot so that the patient receives the best healthcare facility in the hospital free-of-cost,” he said.
Post -launching of the scheme, the CSC’s are experiencing a huge flow of people.
“The response has been very good. We have registered some 2500 people and other CSC’s too are experiencing a rush of people. Almost registration of more than 90 percent has completed in Kangan,” said Rayees Ahmad Teli, who runs a CSC at Kangan.
Locals are equally excited about the scheme given the nature of healthcare facilities in the UT.
“This scheme was a need of the hour. We have registered ourselves to get the best and satisfactory treatment in leading hospitals. We hope the hospitals will cooperate with every beneficiary to give him the best treatment under the scheme,” Abdul Rashid, a local from Kangan, said.
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