Odisha Govt to Integrate AB-PMJAY & G-JAY From Februar

This new card will ensure seamless access to healthcare services for beneficiaries, providing up to INR 10 lakh in health coverage for women and INR 5 lakh for men.

The Odisha government has announced to combine the health benefits of two major healthcare schemes: the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and the state’s Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (G-JAY).

The integrated health card will be unveiled in February 2025. This new card will ensure seamless access to healthcare services for beneficiaries, providing up to INR 10 lakh in health coverage for women and INR 5 lakh for men.

The New Health Card

G-JAY, earlier known as the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, currently offers health insurance of INR 10 lakh for women and INR 5 lakh for men.

AB-PMJAY, on the other hand, provides health cover of INR 5 lakh per family per year for treatment in public and privately impaneled hospitals across the country. The integrated health card, launched next month, aims to combine these two schemes to offer broader coverage.

“The integrated health card will provide Rs 10 lakh health cover for women and Rs 5 lakh for men, maintaining the existing coverage under the G-JAY scheme. This card will facilitate better access to healthcare for the people of Odisha, with a streamlined process across both AB-PMJAY and G-JAY.” said Mukesh Mahaling, the Health Minister of Odisha.

Integration Process

Government’s Focus on Efficient Implementation

The Odisha government is committed to ensuring that the launch of the integrated health card goes smoothly. Chief Minister Mohan Majhi is closely monitoring the progress of this initiative.

"We are ensuring that no eligible person is left out of the health insurance scheme. The integration of the e-KYC database will help ensure the new card reaches those who need it the most," Mahaling said. Additionally, the health department is preparing for the large-scale rollout, which includes ensuring that the infrastructure and database are ready to accommodate the vast network of impaneled hospitals.

The state government has emphasized that integrating these two schemes into a single health card is a significant development, though it comes with its own set of challenges, particularly in IT integration.

Mahaling highlighted the need for robust IT infrastructure to support the creation and distribution of the new health care, stating that 30,000 hospitals across India will be impaneled under the scheme.

“IT integration is a major challenge for the implementation of this scheme. The existing infrastructure is insufficient because we need to integrate with the central scheme to ensure smooth operations. We have a back-end database of around 1 crore people that can be integrated for the new health card.” Mahaling added.

The Odisha Health Department is working diligently to address these challenges. The minister assured that technical problems related to IT integration would be solved gradually as the state moves from a network of 956 impaneled hospitals to a much more extensive network of 30,000 hospitals.