Unified Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY Cards to be coming soon

• The Health Ministry had recently informed that soon the Ayushman card will be co-branded with the state logo and name of state-specific health schemes as well as the flagship health scheme of the Centre.
• This step has been taken by the government to reduce the confusion among the citizens so that they know exactly which schemes are applicable for them. 
• According to the Ministry of Health, at present, about 20 schemes are being run by many states.
• Currently, except Delhi, Odisha and West Bengal, all other states and union territories have agreed to co-brand the cards. After this co-branding, their joint name will be changed to ‘Ayushman Card’.
• The card will be bilingual in English and the local language.
• Under the new arrangement, eligible beneficiaries of any government insurance scheme will be able to avail this coverage in any of the 25,000 hospitals empaneled under the central scheme. 
• The central government will provide a cover of Rs.5 lakh, and beyond that individual states are free to add to the insurance package.
• About 188.1 million persons have been verified under the scheme till August 17, 2022, out of which updated Ayushman cards have been issued to 141.2 million people.

• The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is a component of the umbrella health scheme (Ayushman Bharat). 
• It was launched in 2018 as the largest health insurance scheme in world to be funded by a government. It was earlier known as the National Health Protection Mission. 
• It covers the expenses for secondary and many tertiary health care services.
• PM-JAY scheme would provide poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational categories of urban workers’ families as per the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data (approx. 50 crore beneficiaries) with health benefit cover of Rs Five Lakhs per family per year at free of cost. 
• The health benefits under the scheme include more than 1,350 medical packages covering surgery, medical and daycare treatments, cost of medicines and diagnostics