5.22 lakh people enrolled under Jammu and Kashmir Health Scheme: Official

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Jammu, Oct 18 A total of 5.22 lakh people have been enrolled so far under the Jammu and Kashmir Health Scheme which will ensure universal insurance coverage for all residents of the Union Territory in convergence with the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), an official said.

The scheme will prove to be a game-changer in providing equity in health care services to all the residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Financial Commissioner (FC), Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo said.Dulloo said the scheme will provide health insurance cover free of cost to all the residents of J-K presently not covered under AB-PMJAY. It will have the same benefits as available under AB-PMJAY with an annual health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family.It will also include government employees and retired officers in J-K and their families.The scheme will also cover treatment of COVID-19 in empanelled institutes free of cost.”Till now, 5.22 lakh beneficiaries have already been registered under the scheme,” the FC said.”The scheme will cover about 15 lakh families in the UT. Registrations under the J-K Health Scheme started from September 21, 2020,” he said.Golden cards of the health insurance scheme will be issued in a few days, the official said.”The most important aspect of the scheme is the portability option which will allow the beneficiary families to avail cashless service from any of the health care providers empanelled under AB-PMJAY across the country,” he said.”At present, there are 23,300 empanelled hospitals across India where this facility can be availed including 218 public and private hospitals already empanelled in J-K,” Dulloo said, adding that patients can avail 1,592 medical packages which have already been approved under AB-PMJAY.According to the official, the socio-economic caste census 2011 data will be used for identification of families.Dulloo said in case any family has been left out from the database of SECC 2011, the procedure for inclusion is being notified by the government which will require a domicile certificate and a ration card.He urged all the residents of the UT to get themselves registered under the scheme.