Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a significant step toward expanding healthcare coverage across the country, West Bengal became the 36th State/Union Territory to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance programme.
The National Health Authority (NHA), under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), and the Government of West Bengal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 8 in New Delhi, formally paving the way for the rollout of the flagship health scheme in the state.
The agreement marks a major milestone in India’s efforts to achieve universal health coverage and ensure equitable access to quality healthcare services for citizens across the country.
The MoU signing ceremony was presided over by Union Health Minister JP Nadda and was attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Union Ministers Prataprao Jadhav and Anupriya Patel, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal, along with senior officials.
Launched in 2018, Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY provides health insurance coverage of up to Rs5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation care. The scheme has emerged as a cornerstone of India’s healthcare reforms by reducing out-of-pocket medical expenses and improving access to quality treatment through a nationwide network of empanelled public and private hospitals.
MoHFW said the implementation of the scheme in West Bengal is expected to extend financial protection against catastrophic health expenditure to millions of eligible beneficiaries in the State while enabling seamless portability of healthcare benefits across the country. It will also strengthen the State’s healthcare ecosystem by enhancing access to quality and affordable healthcare services.
