Uttar Pradesh mulls medical insurance for all ration card holders

Lucknow: In a big leap towards providing better health security to its people, the UP government is planning to extend the benefit of Mukhya Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (MMJAY) to all the remaining ration card holders in the state.

There are 3.6 crore ration card holder families of whom 1.92 crore are covered for medical insurance under various schemes. The government now plans to extend the insurance cover to the remaining 1.68 crore ration card holders as well.

A proposal to this effect is set to be tabled before the state cabinet soon, sources said.

"The proposal has already been cleared by key departments like finance, law, medical health, medical education and food and civil supplies. It is now being studied by the office of the chief minister and once cleared here, it will be placed before the state cabinet," an official said, adding that the announcement was expected around Diwali.

Developed on the lines of Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), also known as Ayushman Bharat, the MMJAY provides a medical cover of Rs 5 lakh per person per year. However, it covers people who do not fit in the criteria of PMJAY.

While the state has to bear 40 per cent of the cost of implementation of PMJAY, it shoulders 100 per cent financial burden of the MMJAY.
Officials studying the proposal said the data from the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 served as the basis for the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. According to primary data, 1.31 crore families in UP were eligible for PMJAY. Population correction (till July 2023) added another 13 lakh families on this list. Therefore, a total of 1.64 crore families in UP were listed as beneficiaries of the PMJAY.

Still, many were left out and UP launched MMJAY on March 1, 2019. At the onset, the scheme provided the ben efits to over 8 lakh families. As of now, it covers over 60.9 lakh families.

Thus, cumulatively, PMJAY and MMJAY provide medical insurance cover to 2.25 crore families in the state. This means that about 15.9 per cent of the families in UP are under the umbrella of health insurance which is way lower than the national average of about 40 per cent.
“To bridge this gap, the state is set to take the next big leap,” said a senior government officer informing that 1.68 crore families in the state would be brought under the ambit of MMJAY.

“Data on ration card holders pulled from the state food and civil supplies department is being used for the purpose. We are aware that there are 3.6 crore ration card holder families in the state of whom 1.92 crore are covered for medical insurance (PMJAY and MMJAY). The remaining 1.68 crore will be covered once this inclusion is made,” the officer stated, adding, “Once in place, 75 per cent of the families in UP will have medical cover of up to Rs 5 lakh.”

The move, believe experts, may have ramifications in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections too.

“In absolute numbers, 18 crore out of the total 24 crore people in Uttar Pradesh would have medical insurance cover once the cabinet clears this proposal. Also, the timing of the proposal, which is around Diwali, will give the ruling BJP a chance to fortify its Antyodaya and ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, pitch,” a political analyst said.