Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. (Photo source: Twitter/ Mansukh Mandaviya)FROM 4.5 lakh cards a day, the government aims to achieve the target of issuing 10 lakh Ayushman Cards a day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday said at Arogya Manthan 2022, which marks the completion of four years of the insurance scheme and one year of the digital health mission.
More than 3.95 crore claims for over Rs 45,294 crore have been processed under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). Under the scheme, over 19 crore Ayushman cards have been issued and more than 28,000 hospitals – 45% of which are from private sector – have been empanelled, according to government data.
In just one year of the digital mission, more than 24 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) numbers have been issued by the government. ABHA is a 14-digit number to uniquely identify people in the country and create a digital health record for them. Under the mission, over 1.5 lakh health facilities and 80,000 healthcare professionals have also been registered.
At the inauguration of the two-day event, Mandaviya said, “Over 19 crore Ayushman Cards have been made in the country spanning its coverage in 33 states/UTs, and more than 24 crore ABHA numbers have been generated. This reflects an important milestone in the digitization of health records in the country. The current rate of making 4.5 lakh cards per day will be increased to making 10 lakh Ayushman Cards every day. The government’s focus is to make health services reach the person at the end of the delivery chain, enabled by technology.”
A report on the PM-JAY showed that 46% of all hospital admissions were in the public sector and 54% in the private sector. Of the total admissions, 48% were women. Accounting for 27% of the total, the highest hospitalisations were recorded in the 45 to 59 age group.
At the inauguration of the two-day event, Mandaviya said, “Over 19 crore Ayushman Cards have been made in the country spanning its coverage in 33 states/UTs, and more than 24 crore ABHA numbers have been generated. (Photo source: Twitter/ Mansukh Mandaviya) The report also said that for the outbound calls made under the scheme to get feedback, 60% of the people reported the services to be good, 34% very good, with 5% reporting it to be satisfactory and 1% poor.
NITI Aayog Member (health) Dr V K Paul, in his address at the Arogya Manthan, posed five questions for consideration by the stakeholders – how to increase not just the numbers but quality of healthcare services; how to increase the reach of the services; how to cover the 40 crore people who are not yet covered under any scheme but can afford to pay something to the kitty for health assurance; how to ensure continuum of care between primary, secondary, and tertiary care centres, and adoption of the digital mission.
Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said that every village in the country will be connected through high-speed optical fibre in the next few years, which will ensure connectivity and continuous health access to all.