Port Blair, Sept. 14: Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a flagship scheme of the Government of India noted as the world’s largest health assurance program under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI. This scheme was launched on 23rd September, 2018 with an aim to provide cashless treatment worth Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization expenses. PMJAY Card issued to the eligible beneficiaries empowers the beneficiary to avail treatment in empanelled Public and Private Hospitals across the country.

On September 23, 2022, AB-PMJAY will be completing 4 years of its implementation. To mark the occasion the ‘Ayushman Bharat Pakhwara’ will be observed from Sept.15 to 30, 2022 in this UT. This will include activities to create awareness and educate the people of these Islands about the scheme and benefits attached with it.

Presently, 12,622 families (40,118 members) have registered under the AB-PMJAY scheme in this UT and are entitled for cashless treatment of 1,500 disease packages at more than 23,000 empanelled public and private hospitals across the country.

The eligible AB-PMJAY beneficiaries of these Islands are referred to empanelled hospitals at mainland for treatment of conditions related to the specialties of Cardiothoracic surgery, Neurosurgery, Oncology etc. which are not available in these Islands. Till date, 943 patients have been referred to mainland for treatment under AB-PMJAY.