After dillydallying for months, the Rajasthan Government has finally agreed to implement the central flagship health protection scheme, Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in the State. 

Soon, AB-PMJAY will be integrated with Rajasthan’s existing state health scheme, BhamashahSwasthya Bima Yojana (BSBY), said Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO AB-PMJAY and National Health Authority.

He said, “The NHA has been constantly working closely with the Rajasthan Government in finding approaches to seamlessly integrate BSBY with AB-PMJAY.  We are happy that the State Government too will be the part of the central scheme. We have assured all possible support including technical and policy-related assistance, to Rajasthan.”

Currently, Rajasthan is providing benefits to 97 Lakh families under the BSBY scheme, and many of the eligible families under AB-PMJAY are already covered under BSBY. All eligible families under BSBY and AB-PMJAY will be made eligible to avail health benefits up to Rs 5 Lakh per year under the scheme.

As far as the technology-related aspects are concerned in rolling-out the scheme, Rajasthan will continue the current software implementation, and systemic API based integration with solution suite of NHA for benefits to be delivered through AB-PMJAY is envisaged to be done.

As a part of package mapping, Rajasthan will run a package mapping exercise to ensure all packages specified under PM-JAY are mapped with the packages in BSBY. However, similar to any state running AB-PMJAY, Rajasthan has complete flexibility to expand beyond the AB-PMJAY packages.

Last week, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had written to the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal, urging them to join the AB-PMJAY.