Southern States Lead in Hospital Admissions Under Ayushman Bharat Scheme

According to data from the PMJAY dashboard, Tamil Nadu leads the country with 9.05 million hospital admissions since the scheme’s inception.

Southern states are emerging as leaders in authorized hospital admissions under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), with four out of the top five states in this category coming from the region.

According to data from the PMJAY dashboard, Tamil Nadu leads the country with 9.05 million hospital admissions since the scheme’s inception.

Top Performers in Hospital Admissions

Tamil Nadu's dominance in hospital admissions is followed closely by Karnataka, which recorded 6.60 million admissions.

Rajasthan ranks third with 5.74 million admissions, while Kerala (5.46 million) and Andhra Pradesh (4.96 million) complete the top five.

Despite this strong performance in admissions, these southern states do not figure in the top five for creating Ayushman cards, a key component of the scheme.

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which have created 17.5 million and 15.6 million Ayushman cards, respectively, are ranked eighth and tenth in card creation.

Telangana, which joined the scheme in 2021, has issued 8.29 million Ayushman cards, surpassing both Kerala (7.70 million) and Tamil Nadu (7.54 million).

Trends in Hospital Admissions

Over the past three financial years, some southern states have seen a steady rise in hospital admissions under the scheme, as per data presented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the Parliament.

Andhra Pradesh witnessed an increase in hospital admissions from 1.13 million in FY22 to 1.84 million in FY24.

Similarly, Karnataka's admissions rose from 1.08 million in FY22 to 3.21 million in FY24, and Telangana saw a jump from 323,421 in FY22 to 618,497 in FY24.

In contrast, Tamil Nadu and Kerala experienced a decline in admissions. In Tamil Nadu, hospital admissions fell from 4.39 million in FY22 to 1.05 million in FY24, while Kerala saw a decrease from 1.69 million in FY22 to 1.07 million in FY24.

High Ayushman Card Creation

While southern states are performing well in terms of hospital admissions, other states with high Ayushman card creation have recorded comparatively low admission numbers.

Uttar Pradesh, which has created 51 million Ayushman cards, registered only 2.8 million hospital admissions under the scheme. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh, with 40.2 million cards, recorded 3.35 million admissions, while Bihar, which has issued 35.6 million cards, saw only 778,000 hospitalizations.

Bihar had restarted the scheme in March 2024 under a new name after a three-year hiatus, which may explain its lower admission numbers.

However, no official reason has been provided for the lower admissions in other high card-creating states.

Ayushman Bharat Scheme Overview

As per the National Health Authority (NHA) data, the Ayushman Bharat scheme has so far covered over 356 million citizens, providing them with Ayushman cards that enable them to avail free health insurance worth INR 5 Lakh for hospital treatment.

More than 68 million hospitalizations, worth INR 90,204 Cr, have been covered under the scheme to date.

Launched in 2018, the AB-PMJAY is the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance program.

It aims to provide a health cover of INR 5 Lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalizations, targeting approximately 550 million individuals, corresponding to 123.4 million families.

The eligibility for coverage under the scheme is based on the deprivation and occupational criteria outlined in the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011) for rural and urban areas.

The scheme has since been expanded to include Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers, as well as all citizens aged 70 and above.

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