Blitz Bureau
MORE than five lakh senior citizens who are 70 and above have been enrolled for Ayushman cards since the expansion of the health assurance scheme AB-PMJAY, according to reports. Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of applications for enrolment (1.66 lakh) followed by Kerala (1.28 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (69,044), and Gujarat (25,491).
The Ayushman Vaya Vandana Card, which provides free health coverage to all elderly above 70 years of age, regardless of their income, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi two weeks ago. It was approved by the Union Cabinet in September.
It is in addition to the existing AB PM-JAY family scheme, wherein the elderly will have a separate cover of Rs 5 lakh per year. The reports citing data from the National Health Authority showed that 5,12,598 requests for enrolment have been received under the yojana. Of these 4,64,541 were approved, while the status of 47,916 is pending. About 141 requests have been rejected.
“We have shared IEC (information, education, communication) material with all states. As word spreads, we are confident more and more senior citizens will become involved,” an official was quoted as saying.
