Role of Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Providing Universal Health Coverage in India

Ayushman Bharat: A Pathway to Universal Health Coverage in India

India is a developing nation with a population of over 1.3 billion people. Despite significant improvements in healthcare infrastructure and access in recent years, millions of people still lack access to basic healthcare services.

The Indian government has taken tremendous measures to address this issue, including the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. This blog will discuss the role of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in providing universal health coverage in India.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme, also known as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), was launched in 2018 by the Indian government. It is a flagship scheme under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and aims to provide financial protection and healthcare access to the poor and vulnerable sections of society. The scheme provides free healthcare coverage up to Rs. 5 lakh per family for one year.

Role of Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Providing Universal Health Coverage

The Ayushman Bharat scheme plays a crucial role in providing universal health coverage in India by addressing the financial burden of healthcare expenses for the poor and vulnerable sections of society.

It provides cashless and paperless healthcare services to beneficiaries, including pre-hospitalization expenses, hospitalization expenses and post-hospitalization expenses. The scheme covers both public and private hospitals, giving beneficiaries access to a wide range of healthcare providers and services.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme also aims to improve the quality of healthcare services by providing accreditation to healthcare providers based on their performance. The scheme provides financial incentives to healthcare providers for delivering quality healthcare services and penalizes them for sub-standard performance.

This incentivization mechanism ensures that healthcare providers deliver quality services and helps improve the overall quality of healthcare in the country.

The scheme also promotes the use of technology in healthcare delivery by providing a technology-driven platform for beneficiaries to access healthcare services. The PMJAY IT platform provides real-time information on beneficiaries, hospitals, and claims, making the process of availing healthcare services more efficient and transparent. This technology-driven approach also enables the government to monitor the performance of healthcare providers and ensure that beneficiaries receive quality healthcare services.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme has made significant progress in providing universal health coverage in India. As of September 2021, the scheme has provided free healthcare coverage to over 3.6 crore families, and over 1.65 crore beneficiaries have received hospitalization under the scheme. The scheme has also led to the creation of new jobs in the healthcare sector and has contributed to the overall economic development of the country.

Benefits of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme

The Ayushman Bharat scheme has several benefits for the poor and vulnerable sections of society. Firstly, it provides financial protection to beneficiaries by covering their healthcare expenses up to Rs. 5 lakh. This financial protection ensures that beneficiaries do not have to bear the burden of healthcare expenses and can access healthcare services without any financial constraints.

Secondly, the scheme provides access to quality healthcare services, including tertiary care services, to beneficiaries. This access to quality healthcare services improves the health outcomes of beneficiaries and ensures that they receive the care they need without any delay.

Thirdly, the scheme promotes the use of technology in healthcare delivery, making the process of availing healthcare services more efficient and transparent. This technology-driven approach ensures that beneficiaries receive quality healthcare services and enables the government to monitor the performance of healthcare providers.

Lastly, the Ayushman Bharat scheme also creates employment opportunities in the healthcare sector by promoting the growth of private healthcare providers. This growth in the healthcare sector creates jobs and contributes to the overall economic development of the country.

Challenges Faced by the Ayushman Bharat Scheme

Despite the numerous benefits of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, it faces several challenges in providing universal health coverage in India. Firstly, the scheme faces a shortage of healthcare providers, particularly in rural areas. This shortage of healthcare providers leads to a lack of access to healthcare services for beneficiaries in rural areas.

Secondly, the scheme faces challenges in ensuring the quality of healthcare services provided by healthcare providers. The incentivization mechanism provided by the scheme incentivizes healthcare providers to deliver quality services, but ensuring the quality of healthcare services remains a challenge.

Thirdly, the scheme faces challenges in identifying and enrolling eligible beneficiaries. The scheme is targeted towards the poor and vulnerable sections of society, but identifying and enrolling these beneficiaries can be a challenge. The government has taken several measures to address this challenge, including the use of socio-economic caste census data and the active participation of community-based organizations in the identification and enrollment process.

Fourthly, the scheme faces challenges in ensuring that beneficiaries receive timely and appropriate healthcare services. The government has taken several measures to address this challenge, including the use of telemedicine to provide healthcare services to beneficiaries in remote areas.

Fifthly, the scheme faces challenges in ensuring that healthcare providers are accredited and adhere to quality standards. This challenge is particularly acute in the private healthcare sector, where the quality of healthcare services can vary significantly.
The government has taken several measures to address this challenge, including the use of accreditation agencies to assess the quality of healthcare providers and the imposition of penalties for sub-standard performance.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme plays a crucial role in providing universal health coverage in India by addressing the financial burden of healthcare expenses, providing access to quality healthcare services, promoting the use of technology in healthcare delivery, and creating employment opportunities in the healthcare sector.

However, the scheme faces several challenges in providing universal health coverage, including a shortage of healthcare providers, challenges in ensuring the quality of healthcare services, challenges in identifying and enrolling eligible beneficiaries, challenges in ensuring timely and appropriate healthcare services, and challenges in ensuring sustainability.

The government must continue to address these challenges to ensure that the Ayushman Bharat scheme achieves its goal of providing universal health coverage in India.