What is Ayushman Bharat?
Historical Background
Key Points
10 points- 1.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY): Provides health insurance coverage of up to Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
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Targets over 10.74 crore (107.4 million) poor and vulnerable families (approx. 50 crore beneficiaries) based on Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
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Offers cashless and paperless access to services at empaneled public and private hospitals across the country.
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Covers nearly 1,949 medical packages, including surgery, medical and day care treatments, cost of medicines, and diagnostics, both pre- and post-hospitalization.
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Ensures portability of benefits, allowing beneficiaries to avail services from any empaneled hospital nationwide.
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Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs): Transforms existing Sub Centres and Primary Health Centres into HWCs.
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Provides Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC), including maternal and child health services, screening and management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mental health services, and free essential drugs and diagnostic services.
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Aims to bring healthcare closer to the community, reducing the burden on secondary and tertiary care.
- 9.
Funded jointly by the Central and State Governments, with specific sharing patterns.
- 10.
Managed by the National Health Authority (NHA), which is the apex body responsible for implementing PMJAY.
Visual Insights
Ayushman Bharat: A Comprehensive Overview
Mind map illustrating the key aspects of Ayushman Bharat, its components, and related concepts relevant for UPSC preparation.
Ayushman Bharat
- ●Components
- ●Objectives
- ●Implementation
- ●Recent Developments
Recent Developments
5 developmentsIntegration with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) for creating a digital health ecosystem and individual health IDs.
Continuous expansion of beneficiary base and empaneled hospitals, with millions of hospital admissions facilitated.
Focus on strengthening IT infrastructure for seamless service delivery, fraud detection, and data management.
Challenges include fraud detection and prevention, ensuring quality of care in empaneled private hospitals, and increasing awareness among beneficiaries.
Inclusion of Asha workers and ANMs as key frontline health providers for outreach and awareness.
This Concept in News
2 topicsRajasthan Minister's Remarks on Right to Health Act Spark Controversy
13 Feb 2026The news highlights the complexities of implementing healthcare policies and the potential for political considerations to influence their effectiveness. The Rajasthan Minister's remarks suggest a possible conflict between state-level initiatives like the Right to Health Act and national schemes like Ayushman Bharat. This demonstrates the challenge of coordinating different levels of government and ensuring that healthcare policies are aligned and complementary. The news also raises questions about the sustainability and long-term impact of healthcare schemes, as the Minister questioned the previous government's motives for enacting the Right to Health Act. Understanding Ayushman Bharat is crucial for analyzing this news because it provides context for the debate about healthcare access and the role of government in providing healthcare services. It helps to assess the potential impact of the Minister's remarks on the implementation of healthcare policies in Rajasthan and the broader goal of achieving universal health coverage.
India's Mental Health Crisis: Budget Allocations and Treatment Approaches
8 Feb 2026This news highlights the critical need to expand the scope of Ayushman Bharat to include comprehensive mental healthcare. (1) The news demonstrates that while Ayushman Bharat aims for universal health coverage, mental health remains a significant gap. (2) The low allocation and underutilization of mental health funds, despite Ayushman Bharat's existence, challenge the scheme's effectiveness in addressing mental health needs. (3) The news reveals that a 'whole-of-community' approach, as advocated by the Health Ministry, requires integrating mental well-being into Ayushman Bharat's framework, particularly through HWCs and community-based programs. (4) The implications are that Ayushman Bharat needs to prioritize mental health by increasing funding, training healthcare workers, and promoting awareness. (5) Understanding Ayushman Bharat is crucial for analyzing the news because it helps to assess the government's efforts to address the mental health crisis and identify areas for improvement within the existing healthcare system.