Bhubaneswar: A three-member Central team arrived in Bhubaneswar on Thursday to finalise the modalities for the integration of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) with the Odisha government’s Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY).
According to Health and Family Welfare Secretary Aswathy S, the three-member team is led by National Health Authority (NHA) CEO LS Changsan. The team held discussions with Aswathy, NHM Director Dr Brundha D and senior officials to resolve the challenges surrounding the seamless merger of the two healthcare schemes.
The Central team members also met Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Health and Family Welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling.
Earlier the Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY) was known as Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), which provides annual cashless treatment of Rs 5 lakh per family and additional Rs 5 lakh for women beneficiaries. It was introduced by the previous BJD regime in 2018 following disagreement over the number of beneficiaries and eligibility criteria under the Central scheme. Its integration with AB-PMJAY was a key challenge with Odisha government readying to sign the MoU for implementation of the central scheme for improved coverage via a single health card in the state.
While around 3.5 crore people in 1.1 crore families are now covered under GJAY, the merger is expected to benefit an additional 67.8 lakh families. New health cards will be distributed from January after the MoU is formally signed, the sources added.
