Aiming for health cover to 500 mn, Modi launches Ayushman Bharat in Ranchi

Modi said nearly 13,000 hospitals would provide treatment under this scheme

Business Standard : Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in Ranchi. The scheme aims at providing tertiary health care of up to Rs 500,000 for 500 million. Treatment for all beneficiaries started on Sunday across the country.

Modi said, “People can give it any name — Modicare or whatever — but I consider it service to the poor. People will have to study this scheme across the world and it will be the model health scheme.”

“This scheme covers more people than the US, Canada, and Mexico put together.”

The PM said the launch happened two days before the scheduled date because September 23 was poet Dinkar’s birthday and it was Sunday, because of which he was free. BS From the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister on Independence Day said the scheme would be launched on September 25.

Modi attacked the Opposition for playing politics with the slogan garibihatao. He stated, “Previous governments only played caste politics and emptied the government treasury. We are adopting a holistic approach to provide health care. The government is also focusing on preventive care by including yoga.”

Modi said the scheme would cover diseases beneficiaries were suffering from. He said nearly 13,000 hospitals would provide treatment under this scheme. While it was earlier proposed that the beneficiaries would have to carry their letter and then the card issued to them to avail of the benefits of the scheme, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said they could get treatment even by verifying their identity by using their fingerprint, which will be taken at the time of issuing the gold card to them.

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