PM Modi to launch Ayushman Bharat scheme to cover all J&K residents

New Delhi, Dec 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Ayushman Bharat scheme on Saturday via video conferencing to extend health insurance coverage to all residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Prime Minister's Office said on Thursday that the scheme will ensure universal health coverage, and focus on providing financial risk protection and ensuring quality and affordable essential health services to all individuals and communities. Home Minister Amit Shah and the union territory's Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will also be present on the occasion.

The scheme will provide free of cost insurance cover to all the residents of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, the PMO said, adding that it will provide financial cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family on a floater basis to all residents of the UT.

There is provision for operational extension of 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana' (PM-JAY) to approximately Rs 15 lakh additional families, the PMO statement said, adding that that the scheme will operate on insurance mode in convergence with PM-JAY. The benefits of the scheme will be portable across the country.

The hospitals empanelled under the PM-JAY scheme shall provide services under this scheme as well, the PMO said.