Context:
The Union Health Ministry said the National Health Authority (NHA) is working to integrate the database of Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 beneficiaries with the National Food Security Act (NFSA) portal so that beneficiaries can seek information regarding their entitlements under the AB PM-JAY using their ration card number.
Relevance:
GS II- Government Policies and Interventions, GS-II: Social Justice and Governance (Issues related to Health, Welfare Schemes, Government Policies and Initiatives)
Dimensions of the article:
- Details:
- About Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)
- About the National Health Authority (NHA)
- National Food Security Act
Details:
- NHA is also working on a proposal to use fair price shops or ration shops for providing information related to the scheme and entitlement under the scheme to eligible beneficiaries.
- This will provide an additional avenue to beneficiaries along with the existing Common Service Centre, UTI-ITSL and so on for card creation. This will make the beneficiary identification process very convenient.
- It added that the existing beneficiary data available with various government welfare schemes can be meaningfully utilised only if a common identifier is available.
- Aadhaar being a common identity across the majority of government databases will enable this integration. Aadhaar also ensures certainty regarding beneficiary identification through e-KYC. e-KYC enables paperless delivery of services in a targeted manner.
About Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)
- Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme having central sector component under Ayushman Bharat Mission anchored in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
- It is an umbrella of two major health initiatives, namely
- National Health Protection Scheme.
- Health and wellness Centres
- The PM Jan Arogya Yojana beneficiaries get an e-card that can be used to avail services at an empanelled hospital, public or private, anywhere in the country, with which they can walk into a hospital and obtain cashless treatment.
- The scheme has certain pre-conditions by which it picks who can avail of the health cover benefit. While in the rural areas the list is mostly categorized on lack of housing, meagre income and other deprivations, the urban list of PMJAY beneficiaries is drawn up on the basis of occupation.
- AB PM-JAY is the flagship scheme of the Union government as a part of the Indian government’s National Health Policy.
National Health Protection Mission (AB-PMJAY)
- AB-PMJAY provides a defined insurance benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. This cover will take care of almost all secondary care and most of tertiary care procedures.
- To ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly) there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme.
- The beneficiaries can avail benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities. All public hospitals in the States implementing AB-PMJAY, will be deemed empanelled for the Scheme.
- Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
- To control costs, the payments for treatment will be done on package rate (to be defined by the Government in advance) basis.
Health and Wellness Centres (AB-PMJAY)
- Under this 1.5 lakh existing sub centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people in the form of Health and wellness centres.
- These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services.
About the National Health Authority (NHA)
- National Health Authority (NHA) is the apex body responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme called “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana”.
- The NHA been entrusted with the role of designing strategy, building technological infrastructure and implementation of “Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission” to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.
- National Health Authority (2019) is the successor of the National Health Agency, which was functioning as a registered society since 2018 (Not a Statutory body).
- NHA has been set-up to implement PM-JAY, as it is popularly known, at the national level.
- NHA is an attached office of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with full functional autonomy.
- NHA is also leading the implementation for Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission ABDM in coordination with different ministries/departments of the Government of India, State Governments, and private sector/civil society organizations.
- NHA is governed by a Governing Board chaired by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and it is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), an officer of the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, who manages its affairs.
National Food Security Act
- The basic concept of food security globally is to ensure that all people, at all times, should get access to the basic food for their active and healthy life and is characterized by availability, access, utilization and stability of food.
- In pursuance of this, the enactment of the National Food Security Act, (NFSA) 2013 marks a paradigm shift in the approach to food security from welfare to the rights-based approach.
- The Act legally entitles up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
-Source: The Hindu, PIB
