The Centre today gave its nod for the launch of Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission, which will provide a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year and benefit more than 10 crore families belonging to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society.

Under the centrally-sponsored scheme, touted to be the world&#39;s largest government-funded healthcare programme, it is proposed to set up the Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission Council (AB-NHPMC), chaired by the Union health minister, apart from establishing the AB-NHPM Governing Board.

&quot;The benefits cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses. All pre-existing conditions will be covered from day one of the policy,&quot; an official statement said.

The Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the launch of the AB-NHPM with a central sector component under the Ayushman Bharat Mission.

The AB-NHPM will target about 10.74 crores poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers&#39; families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, covering both rural and urban areas.

It is proposed to establish an AB-NHPM Agency to manage the AB-NHPM at the operational level in the form of a society.

&quot;NHPM will leverage on the Comprehensive Primary Health Care through Health &amp; Wellness Centres (HWCs) for providing a universal health coverage and making health services equitable, affordable and accessible. It will benefit the poorest and the needy.

&quot;NHPM will cover over 10 crore poor families (approximately 50 crore people), providing a coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. There is no limit on family size. This will be the world&#39;s largest government-funded healthcare programme,&quot; Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in a series of tweets.

One of the core principles of AB-NHPM was co-operative federalism and flexibility to states, the statement said, adding that there was a provision to partner the states through co-alliance.

&quot;This will ensure appropriate integration with the existing health insurance or protection schemes of various central ministries/departments and state governments (at their own cost). The state governments will be allowed to expand AB-NHPM both horizontally and vertically,&quot; it said.

&quot;The cover will take care of almost all secondary care and most of the tertiary care procedures. To ensure that nobody is left out, especially women, children and the elderly people, there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme,&quot; the statement said. 
The AB-NHPM Agency will be headed by a full-time CEO of the rank of secretary or additional secretary.

&quot;AB-NHPM will subsume the ongoing centrally-sponsored schemes -- the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS),&quot; the statement said.

The different categories in the rural areas include families having only one room with &quot;kucha&quot; walls and &quot;kucha&quot; roof, families having no adult members among others.

At the national level, an Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Agency (AB-NHPMA) would be put in place and states and UTs would be advised to implement the scheme by a dedicated entity called State Health Agency (SHA).

&quot;Also, automatically included families in rural areas having any one of the following: households without shelter, destitute, living on alms, manual scavenger families, primitive tribal groups, legally released bonded labour. For urban areas, 11 defined occupational categories are entitled under the scheme.

&quot;The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities. All public hospitals in the states implementing AB-NHPM will be deemed empanelled for the scheme,&quot; the statement said.

It added that hospitals belonging to ESIC may also be empanelled based on the bed occupancy ratio parameter. As for private hospitals, they will be empanelled online based on defined criteria.

&quot;The expenditure incurred in premium payment will be shared between the central and state governments in a specified ratio as per Ministry of Finance guidelines in vogue,&quot; the statement said. 
AB-NHPM will have a major impact on the reduction of Out Of Pocket (OOP) expenditure on the ground of an increased benefit cover to nearly 40 per cent of the population, the statement said.

&quot;This will lead to an increased access to quality health and medication. In addition, the unmet needs of the population which remained hidden due to lack of financial resources will be catered to. 
&quot;This will lead to timely treatments, improvements in health outcomes, patient satisfaction, improvement in productivity and efficiency, job creation thus, leading to an improvement in the quality of life,&quot; the government said.

In partnership with NITI Aayog, a &quot;robust, modular, scalable and interoperable&quot; IT platform will be made operational to prevent and detect misuse or fraud.

The Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the launch of the AB-NHPM with a central sector component under the Ayushman Bharat Mission

The Centre today gave its nod for the launch of Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission, which will provide a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year and benefit more than 10 crore families belonging to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. Under the centrally-sponsored scheme, touted to be the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme, it is proposed to set up the Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission Council (AB-NHPMC), chaired by the Union health minister, apart from establishing the AB-NHPM Governing Board. "The benefits cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses. All pre-existing conditions will be covered from day one of the policy," an official statement said. The Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the launch of the AB-NHPM with a central sector component under the Ayushman Bharat Mission. The AB-NHPM will target about 10.74 crores poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers' families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, covering both rural and urban areas. It is proposed to establish an AB-NHPM Agency to manage the AB-NHPM at the operational level in the form of a society. "NHPM will leverage on the Comprehensive Primary Health Care through Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) for providing a universal health coverage and making health services equitable, affordable and accessible. It will benefit the poorest and the needy. "NHPM will cover over 10 crore poor families (approximately 50 crore people), providing a coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. There is no limit on family size. This will be the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme," Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in a series of tweets. One of the core principles of AB-NHPM was co-operative federalism and flexibility to states, the statement said, adding that there was a provision to partner the states through co-alliance. "This will ensure appropriate integration with the existing health insurance or protection schemes of various central ministries/departments and state governments (at their own cost). The state governments will be allowed to expand AB-NHPM both horizontally and vertically," it said. "The cover will take care of almost all secondary care and most of the tertiary care procedures. To ensure that nobody is left out, especially women, children and the elderly people, there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme," the statement said. The AB-NHPM Agency will be headed by a full-time CEO of the rank of secretary or additional secretary. "AB-NHPM will subsume the ongoing centrally-sponsored schemes -- the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS)," the statement said. The different categories in the rural areas include families having only one room with "kucha" walls and "kucha" roof, families having no adult members among others. At the national level, an Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission Agency (AB-NHPMA) would be put in place and states and UTs would be advised to implement the scheme by a dedicated entity called State Health Agency (SHA). "Also, automatically included families in rural areas having any one of the following: households without shelter, destitute, living on alms, manual scavenger families, primitive tribal groups, legally released bonded labour. For urban areas, 11 defined occupational categories are entitled under the scheme. "The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities. All public hospitals in the states implementing AB-NHPM will be deemed empanelled for the scheme," the statement said. It added that hospitals belonging to ESIC may also be empanelled based on the bed occupancy ratio parameter. As for private hospitals, they will be empanelled online based on defined criteria. "The expenditure incurred in premium payment will be shared between the central and state governments in a specified ratio as per Ministry of Finance guidelines in vogue," the statement said. AB-NHPM will have a major impact on the reduction of Out Of Pocket (OOP) expenditure on the ground of an increased benefit cover to nearly 40 per cent of the population, the statement said. "This will lead to an increased access to quality health and medication. In addition, the unmet needs of the population which remained hidden due to lack of financial resources will be catered to. "This will lead to timely treatments, improvements in health outcomes, patient satisfaction, improvement in productivity and efficiency, job creation thus, leading to an improvement in the quality of life," the government said. In partnership with NITI Aayog, a "robust, modular, scalable and interoperable" IT platform will be made operational to prevent and detect misuse or fraud.

Centre okays launch of National Health Protection scheme

The ambitious National Health Protection Scheme will be implemented by the end of the year, the Finance Minister told Rajya Sabha earlier today.&nbsp;

The scheme plans to provide Rs 5 lakh annual medical insurance cover to 10 crore poor and needy families in the country. Modi government&#39;s pilot health scheme was announced in the Budget 2018-19.

&quot;I believe that once the work starts, the scheme will be fully implemented by the end of the year,&quot; Jaitley said in Rajya Sabha today.&nbsp;

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had previously noted that it would take another six months for the scheme to be worked out and that the same may not get implemented in this financial year.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated a relatively small sum -- of Rs 2,000 crore -- for the Ayushman Bharat health scheme. The yojna was described and touted as the world&#39;s largest government-funded healthcare programme in Jaitley&#39;s budget speech with an aim to provide medical insurance to around 50 crore poor people.&nbsp;

The Finance Minister later clarified and noted the amount to be an initial outlay and that more funds would be made available to the scheme.&nbsp;

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had previously noted that it would take another six months for the scheme to be worked out

The ambitious National Health Protection Scheme will be implemented by the end of the year, the Finance Minister told Rajya Sabha earlier today. The scheme plans to provide Rs 5 lakh annual medical insurance cover to 10 crore poor and needy families in the country. Modi government's pilot health scheme was announced in the Budget 2018-19. "I believe that once the work starts, the scheme will be fully implemented by the end of the year," Jaitley said in Rajya Sabha today. Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had previously noted that it would take another six months for the scheme to be worked out and that the same may not get implemented in this financial year. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated a relatively small sum -- of Rs 2,000 crore -- for the Ayushman Bharat health scheme. The yojna was described and touted as the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme in Jaitley's budget speech with an aim to provide medical insurance to around 50 crore poor people. The Finance Minister later clarified and noted the amount to be an initial outlay and that more funds would be made available to the scheme.

Government to implement National Health Protection Scheme this year: Arun Jaitley

The healthcare industry has welcomed the budget proposal to launch the world&#39;s largest publicly-funded healthcare programme and the proposed National Health Protection Scheme to cover around 50 crore people.

&quot;The plan to invest in creating a healthy nation by launching the Ayushman Bharat programme is a welcome step. Such ambitious, out-of-the-box thinking was the need of the hour and the government has not disappointed.

&quot;The move to cover 10 crore families with 5 lakh per family/per year for secondary and tertiary healthcare will be a game-changer,&quot; Apollo Hospitals chairman Prathap Reddy said.

The Budget today announced the world&#39;s largest government-funded healthcare programme, aimed at benefiting 10 crore poor families by offering a Rs 5 lakh cover per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

The finance minister also said government will set up 24 new government medical colleges and hospitals by upgrading existing district hospitals.

&quot;While the minister has presented a moderate Budget, he continues to lay emphasis on overall infrastructure development and strengthening of the rural economy. Increased focus on healthcare augurs well.

&quot;On the corporate side, there are no significant changes which was expected. Overall the budget was as per expectations,&quot; Glenmark chairman Glenn Saldanha said.

The Budget highlighted the availability of low-cost medicines. This should lead to a reasonable presumption that there will be further action on the price control front going forward, Khaitan &amp; Co&#39;s Sameer Sah said.

The National Health Protection Scheme will be an interesting initiative and if the private players are allowed in, this will have an additional opportunity to serve more patients, Sah added.

Jaitley committed Rs 1,200 crore for the National Health Policy. This would go towards 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres to bring healthcare closer to the homes.

Metropolis Healthcare managing director Ameera Shah said overall, this has been a pro-people and a pro-poor Budget. For the first time, universal healthcare has got the impetus it needs. The plan to introduce 24 new medical colleges will address the glaring lack of talent.

&quot;NHPS rollout will need an effective gatekeeping system with an immediate focus and strengthening of primary care services. Such systems will ensure equity by judicious referral system to secondary and tertiary care&quot; KPMG India&#39;s Nilaya Varma said. PTI&nbsp;

The Budget today announced the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme, aimed at benefiting 10 crore poor families

The healthcare industry has welcomed the budget proposal to launch the world's largest publicly-funded healthcare programme and the proposed National Health Protection Scheme to cover around 50 crore people. "The plan to invest in creating a healthy nation by launching the Ayushman Bharat programme is a welcome step. Such ambitious, out-of-the-box thinking was the need of the hour and the government has not disappointed. "The move to cover 10 crore families with 5 lakh per family/per year for secondary and tertiary healthcare will be a game-changer," Apollo Hospitals chairman Prathap Reddy said. The Budget today announced the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme, aimed at benefiting 10 crore poor families by offering a Rs 5 lakh cover per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. The finance minister also said government will set up 24 new government medical colleges and hospitals by upgrading existing district hospitals. "While the minister has presented a moderate Budget, he continues to lay emphasis on overall infrastructure development and strengthening of the rural economy. Increased focus on healthcare augurs well. "On the corporate side, there are no significant changes which was expected. Overall the budget was as per expectations," Glenmark chairman Glenn Saldanha said. The Budget highlighted the availability of low-cost medicines. This should lead to a reasonable presumption that there will be further action on the price control front going forward, Khaitan & Co's Sameer Sah said. The National Health Protection Scheme will be an interesting initiative and if the private players are allowed in, this will have an additional opportunity to serve more patients, Sah added. Jaitley committed Rs 1,200 crore for the National Health Policy. This would go towards 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres to bring healthcare closer to the homes. Metropolis Healthcare managing director Ameera Shah said overall, this has been a pro-people and a pro-poor Budget. For the first time, universal healthcare has got the impetus it needs. The plan to introduce 24 new medical colleges will address the glaring lack of talent. "NHPS rollout will need an effective gatekeeping system with an immediate focus and strengthening of primary care services. Such systems will ensure equity by judicious referral system to secondary and tertiary care" KPMG India's Nilaya Varma said. PTI

Budget 2018: Industry leaders hail national healthcare programme