Telangana starts promoting Ayushman Bharat, patients a happy lot

ADILABAD: The state government, which has been criticised in the past for allegedly ignoring the Centre’s schemes, however, in a change of tack, is actively promoting the Ayushman Bharat scheme by opening accounts for beneficiaries and the needy to avail of benefits.

With the coverage under the Ayushman Bharat extensive, more than schemes like the Aarogyasri, the state gets 70 per cent of the total reimbursement paid by the Centre for medical procedures, while 30 per cent goes to surgeons and patients.

Besides the Ayushman Bharat, the state government also got funds for constructing houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, with the Central government claiming it has sanctioned 2.4 lakh houses to Telangana under the PMAY.  

Medical treatment under the Ayushman Bharat is also given to patients, of Telangana, who do not have an Aarogyasri card or a pink card (white ration card).

One such facility where treatments are given is the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Adilabad. A doctor working at RIMS said they were regularly getting incentives for providing treatments and performing operations under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

He said that accounts are being opened at government hospitals for patients under ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojana’ (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or PM-JAY), which will cover up to Rs 5 lakh per annum health insurance for families, across the country.  

As the state government is also providing medical and health services under the Aarogyasri scheme, those suffering from health issues now have a wider array of options as, till a few months ago, the state government was reluctant in availing of services for people under Ayushman Bharat.

With the state government now softening its stance, it opens up 1,393 medical procedures at public and private empanelled hospitals across the country.

Doctors and superintendents of government hospitals are asking patients to bring along their Aadhaar cards whenever they visit the hospital to enrol them and open an account under Ayushman Bharat.

The BPL families are eligible for applying ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and getting health insurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh for medical treatment.

Utnoor area hospital superintendent Dr Upender appealed to the people to bring a photocopy of their identity proof and encouraged them to avail themselves of the opportunity by creating an account.