Cover under Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme likely to be doubled

The government is working on finalising a proposal to double the insurance cover under its flagship Ayushman Bharat health scheme to Rs 10 lakh to ensure that serious diseases like cancer and transplants that entail more expenditure are supported by it, official sources said on Wednesday. An announcement to this effect is likely to be made in the interim Union Budget on February 1, the sources told PTI. The Union health ministry is also planning to double the beneficiaries to 100 crore under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to include Kisan Samman Nidhi recipients, construction workers, non-coal mine workers and ASHA workers in the next three years. "In order to ensure that serious illnesses requiring expenditure of more than Rs 5 lakh such as transplants and high-cost cancer treatments etc. are also covered under AB PMJAY, the ministry is working on finalising a proposal to increase the cover amount from Rs 5 lakh per family per year to Rs 10 lakh pe Read The Rest at :