Finance
On Monday, the Odisha government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre to implement the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) by merging it with the state’s Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana. This alliance seeks to provide comprehensive healthcare coverage to economically needy families throughout the state.
Aswathy S, Odisha’s Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, and L S Changsan, CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), signed the MoU in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, and Odisha Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling. Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Jual Oram also attended the ceremony.
With this agreement, Odisha becomes the 34th state or union territory to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The program will offer qualified participants a single multilingual health card that combines the benefits of both systems. The card offers cashless healthcare coverage of ₹5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization, with an additional ₹5 lakh for women.
According to Changsan, the initiative will benefit 1.03 crore Odisha families, based on data provided by the state government. The central government would fund 67.8 lakh of these families. Furthermore, the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a social security system, would be included in this project.
Beneficiaries can receive cashless treatment at over 30,000 empaneled hospitals nationwide. The scheme would be run on an IT platform overseen by the National Health Authority (NHA) at the national level and the State Health Assurance Society under Odisha’s Department of Health and Family Welfare.
“This development will strengthen Odisha’s healthcare infrastructure, improve patient care, and significantly reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families,” an official release noted. Health cards will soon be printed and distributed to beneficiaries.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda hailed the integration as a critical step toward achieving universal healthcare in India. He emphasized that the successful implementation of Ayushman Bharat in Odisha could serve as a model for other states to follow.
The action represents a policy shift from the previous BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik, who refused to adopt Ayushman Bharat, citing the existence of the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, which has more beneficiaries. The current government, led by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, has renamed the state initiative Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana and linked it to Ayushman Bharat to enable greater healthcare access.
Key Features of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY):
- Coverage of ₹5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care.
- Cashless healthcare services at empanelled hospitals across India.
- No family size, age, or gender restrictions.
- Covers pre-existing conditions from day one.
- Includes pre- and post-hospitalization expenses, diagnostic services, and medicines.
- Services encompass over 1,929 medical procedures.
- Benefits are portable across the country.
- Public hospitals are reimbursed on par with private hospitals.
