Behind West Bengal joining as the 36th State or Union Territory: what Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY covers and who runs it

Background

West Bengal's entry as the 36th State or Union Territory to implement Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana puts the scheme itself in the news, so its structure is worth setting out. The scheme was launched in September 2018 and gives an eligible family health cover of up to five lakh rupees a year, with the Union Government describing it as the world's largest government funded health assurance programme, reaching more than 62 crore people. It is run by the National Health Authority, which works under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and it is delivered as cashless treatment at empanelled hospitals, of which the scheme counts more than 36,000. In West Bengal the National Health Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with the State's Department of Health and Family Welfare. The State expects to cover about 1.24 crore eligible families, a figure that rises to 1.43 crore once added groups are counted. Two groups make up that difference: roughly 3.06 lakh households of ASHAs and of Anganwadi workers and helpers, and about 15.95 lakh households with a member of 70 years or more, the latter covered irrespective of what the family earns. The Union Government's share for the State is put at nearly 1,000 crore rupees a year. Separately, a first tranche of 527.58 crore rupees has been released to the State from a resource envelope of 3,505.59 crore rupees under the National Health Mission.