SEHAT, a key scheme

More than 3.34 lakh people in Srinagar have registered with the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-SEHAT Scheme (AB-PMJAY-SEHAT), under which free healthcare is provided to all citizen who provided a Golden Card which helps them in covering most treatment costs. As per official data, 334822 people have been registered with Ayushman Bharat in the district and so far 294205 Golden Cards have been issued to beneficiaries. The district administration is on course to speed up the registration for SEHAT scheme and directions have been passed on to all the concerned to increase registration of beneficiaries under the scheme in their respective areas. Earlier this week, the DC stressed upon the officers for prompt issuance of SEHAT cards under the scheme to all registered beneficiaries and undertaking registration process of all left outs on BIS Portal. He directed the concerned authorities to start Information Education and Communication (IEC) activities on mission mode by roping in other concerned departments for creating mass awareness in the district for speeding up registration process. As far the data for the entire J&K is concerned, until March 2021, 4,27,466 families and 14,85,059 beneficiaries- 71.49% and 48.06% of the respective targets were enrolled under PM-JAY. Similarly, under the universal health coverage scheme ‘Sehat’, 8,77,846 families and 31,71,918 beneficiaries – 60.27% and 41.88% of the respective targets were covered. AB PM-JAY SEHAT Scheme is one of the most ambitious schemes launched by Prime Minister on 26th December 2020 and it aims to provide Universal Health Insurance Coverage of Rs. 5.00 lakh per family on a floater basis in convergence with central government’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).  The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has launched ‘Sehat’ in convergence with Ayushman Bharat to extend free of cost and cashless health insurance to nearly one crore residents of the Union territory, thus becoming the 1st UT in India to bring all its population under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. The government has 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. 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.