Health Ministry ironing out technical hurdles to enrol senior citizens above 70 years under expanded AB-PMJAY

The expansion of the scheme is expected to benefit about 4.5 crore families, including six crore senior citizens; grassroots healthcare workers will be helping with the registration process

The Union Health Ministry is in the process of ironing out any technical hurdles senior citizens registering for the expanded Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) may face.

The initiative, launched in September, provides free health coverage to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, regardless of their income. The expansion of the scheme is expected to benefit about 4.5 crore families, including six crore senior citizens.

A senior Health Ministry official said that care was being taken to facilitate the process smoothly for senior citizens registering for the first time. “We have two sets of people to be covered under this scheme, where we have the new entrants, and those [already] existing with us. Grassroots healthcare workers will be helping with the registration process,’’ he said.

The official added that senior citizens aged 70 years and above who were availing the benefits of other public health insurance schemes, including the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), and the Ayushman Central Armed Police Forces (Ayushman CAPF) may either choose to remain with their existing scheme or opt for the AB-PMJAY. Moreover, senior citizens eligible for the scheme and currently enrolled under private health insurance policies or the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme could avail benefits of the AB-PMJAY, the official said.

A paper released by the NITI Aayog titled ‘Senior Care Reforms in India’ states India is witnessing an exponential growth in the number and proportion of elderly people, coupled with a decreasing fertility rate (less than 2.0) and increasing life expectancy (more than 70 years). “The elderly in India currently comprises a little over 10% of the population, translating to about 104 million, and is projected to reach 19.5% of the total population by 2050,’’ the paper noted.

The Longitudinal Ageing Study of India 2021 report, a full-scale national survey and seminal study on the status and determinants of the ageing population in India by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, highlights that 75% of the elderly have one or more chronic diseases. Also, 24% of the elderly have at least one ‘Activities of Daily Living (ADL)‘ limitation, and 48% reported at least one ‘Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL)‘ limitation. One in three reported having depressive symptoms, and 32% reported low life satisfaction. In terms of social protection, only 18% reported being covered by any health insurance, only 28% were aware of any concession for senior citizens, and 24% reported problems in providing documents to avail services. The report highlights that 70% of the elderly population is dependent for every day maintenance, and 78% is living without any pension cover.

The Health Ministry in its release said that the AB-PMJAY scheme had witnessed continuous expansion of its beneficiary base. “Initially, 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families comprising the bottom 40% of India’s population were covered under the scheme. Later, the Central government in January 2022 revised the beneficiary base under AB PM-JAY from 10.74 crore to 12 crore families considering India’s decadal population growth of 11.7 % over 2011 population. The scheme was further expanded to cover 37 lakh ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists)/AWWs (Anganwadi Worker)/AWHs (Anganwadi Helper) working across the country and their families for free healthcare benefits,’’ the Ministry said.

Published - October 01, 2024 06:23 pm IST