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The Medical Benefit Council of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation on Friday approved the integration of the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme with Ayushman Bharat PM-Jan Arogya Yojana (JAY) to enhance healthcare access for beneficiaries. The decision to integrate the two schemes was taken at the 86th meeting of the Medical Benefit Council held at the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) headquarters, the labor ministry said in a statement.
More than 12 crore poor families benefited.
The meeting was chaired by Ashok Kumar Singh, Director General (DG), ESIC. Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is the world’s largest health insurance scheme. It aims to provide health insurance of Rs 5 lakh per year to over 12 crore poor families (about 55 crore beneficiaries). The Council also approved the implementation of a Common Support Mission (CSM) for States. The CSM aims to improve and strengthen the medical service delivery system of ESI in the states with a focus on an insured person-centric approach.
Approval to start awareness camp
Further, the Council approved the introduction of annual preventive health check-ups and awareness camps for beneficiaries to focus on early diagnosis of lifestyle disorders and detection of nutritional deficiencies among insured persons/women/transgenders. The government will establish 10 new ESIC medical colleges and extend the unemployment allowance scheme for ESI Corporation members till June 2026. Several important decisions have been taken to further strengthen the infrastructure and medical facilities of ESIC.
As the government prepares to roll out health coverage for all those aged 70 years and above, the National Health Authority, the implementing agency of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, is assessing the need to add more health packages for the elderly. The expanded scheme is likely to be launched by the end of this month and will benefit six crore citizens from about 4.5 crore families, official sources said.
