Nagaland to cover 70% families under Ayushman Bharat by March 2022

The Nagaland government has planned to cover at least 70 per cent of over 2.33 lakh targeted households under the Ayushman Bharat, a universal health insurance scheme, by March 2022, state health minister S Pangnyu Phom said on Thursday.

Only 41 per cent of these families have been covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana, he said on the occasion of the third anniversary of the centrally sponsored welfare programme.

He announced that the state health department will cover up to 1,63,329 households by March 2022 under the “Aapke Dwar Ayushman” (Ayushman scheme at doorsteps) initiative.

Since the inception of the scheme in 2018, around 20,000 hospitalisation cases have been registered, and claims worth Rs 25 crore have already been disbursed, Phom said.

The health insurance programme aims at providing a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

“Aadhaar-seeded ration cards will be linked to PMJAY portal, which will help the enrolment process and improve coverage,” the minister said.

The Nagaland State Rural Livelihood Mission (NSRLM) will be partnering with the health agency to make people aware of the health insurance scheme.

Construction workers registered under the labour department will soon join the insurance programme, and accordingly 8,584 new families will be added, he said. PTI