'Ayushman cards with centre, state logos to help beneficiaries'

The health ministry's move to issue rebranded Ayushman Bharat cards bearing the logos of both states and the Centre will make portability of medical services within the country easier, a top official told ET.

This will especially benefit those beneficiaries who have to travel outside their states for medical treatment, said RS Sharma, the chief executive of the National Health Authority. NHA acts as the administrator of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana.

On Wednesday, the ministry said it would co-brand Ayushman Bharat health cards to include the health schemes of states. This means the cards can now be used for both central as well as state health schemes.

Until now, the cards only bore the Centre's logo even though the Ayushman Bharat scheme is funded by states and the central government in a 40:60 ratio. Many states, particularly opposition-ruled ones, had demanded the state's visibility on the cards. As of now, 30 of 33 states have agreed to the co-branding plan. Delhi, Odisha, and Bengal have opted to remain out of the scheme altogether, while Tamil Nadu and Telangana have not yet given their final consent for co-branding.

Sharma, who is spearheading the project, said the co-branding move is a marker of cooperative federalism as it would the states, while they already did the work of identifying, registering beneficiaries and processing of claims. "It is going to be a massive exercise, and similar to CoWin, we have created a portal. So, anyone who is authenticated with a linked Aadhaar and electronic KYC verified gets uploaded," he said.