The government has actively been looking for ways to bridge the gap in the availability of healthcare services to people across the country. For this purpose, more and more hospitals are being empanelled under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme.
According to reports, the hospitals functioning under the state-run companies and Indian Railways are empanelled under the PMJAY scheme. The authorities decided that all the public hospitals should mandatorily be empanelled under the AB-PMJAY scheme so as to expand the coverage of the plan.
However, rising concern of the PMJAY scheme authorities is that a number of hospitals in smaller areas of the country, including the ones run by the state-run enterprises, are under-utilised. This is despite the fact that there is a high demand for the services provided, especially in the smaller regions.
Ever since this rising concern, over 236 hospitals were empanelled under the PMJAY scheme. On the other hand, over 700 more hospitals are yet to join the health insurance plan.
Among the 236 newly empanelled hospitals, over 91 of them are operated by the ministry of railways. These hospitals belong to places such as Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh, Ajmer, Kota. Jodhpur, and Jaipur in Rajasthan, Gaya and Garhara in Bihar, Bodha and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, etc.
Other 36 hospitals fall under the ministry of coal. They are located in places such as Korba, Churcha, Bishrampur and Kurasia. Another 10 hospitals of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation that were empanelled are from Kalaburagi in Karnataka, Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, and Ankleshwar in Gujarat.
The government is ensuring that all the public hospitals are empanelled under the PMJAY scheme. This is to bridge the gap due to the lack of secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities in poor regions.
The PMJAY scheme that is fully funded by the government was launched in September 2018. The aim is to provide healthcare to everyone in the country. And ever since its establishment, over 7.8 million people have availed the benefits under the scheme across more than 21,000 hospitals in the country.
You too can avail the benefits of the PMJAY scheme. But before you do so, you first have to check your eligibility. After you know that you qualify under the scheme, you can proceed to Ayushman Bharat registration and application process. Upon successful registration, you will be issued an ecard which is used at the empanelled hospitals to avail the benefits.
Whether or not you can avail the benefits of the PMJAY scheme, it is highly advisable to have health insurance under your name. Many health insurance providers offer adequate coverage at affordable premiums. You can even compare these plans online and then choose the one that best suits your medical-related needs.
