Bhubaneswar: In a landmark move, the Odisha government on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre to roll out the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) by integrating it with the state’s Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana. This collaboration aims to provide comprehensive healthcare coverage to economically vulnerable families across the state.
The MoU was signed by Odisha’s Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Aswathy S, and CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), L S Changsan, in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, and Odisha Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling. Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Jual Oram also attended the event.
With this agreement, Odisha has become the 34th state or Union Territory to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The initiative will issue a single bilingual health card to eligible beneficiaries, consolidating the benefits of both schemes. The card will provide cashless healthcare coverage of ₹5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation, with an additional ₹5 lakh exclusively for women.
According to Changsan, the scheme will cover 1.03 crore families in Odisha, based on data shared by the state government. Of these, 67.8 lakh families will receive support from the central government. Furthermore, the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a social security scheme, will also be integrated into this initiative.
Beneficiaries can access cashless treatment at over 30,000 empanelled hospitals nationwide. The scheme will operate on the IT platform managed by the National Health Authority (NHA) at the national level and the State Health Assurance Society under Odisha’s Department of Health and Family Welfare.
“This development will strengthen Odisha’s healthcare infrastructure, improve patient care, and significantly reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families,” an official release noted. Health cards will soon be printed and distributed to beneficiaries.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda hailed the integration as a critical step toward achieving universal healthcare in India. He emphasized that the successful implementation of Ayushman Bharat in Odisha could serve as a model for other states to follow.
The move marks a policy shift from the previous BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik, which had declined to implement Ayushman Bharat, citing the existence of the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana with more beneficiaries. The current government, led by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, renamed the state scheme to Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana and aligned it with Ayushman Bharat to ensure broader healthcare access.
Key Features of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY):
- Coverage of ₹5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary care.
- Cashless healthcare services at empanelled hospitals across India.
- No family size, age, or gender restrictions.
- Covers pre-existing conditions from day one.
- Includes pre- and post-hospitalization expenses, diagnostic services, and medicines.
- Services encompass over 1,929 medical procedures.
- Benefits are portable across the country.
- Public hospitals are reimbursed on par with private hospitals.
