NEW DELHI: The Delhi government will bear the cost of the top-up of Rs 5 lakh that will be provided under the Ayushman Bharat scheme as an insurance cover to poor and vulnerable families. This means eligible families in the national capital will now get a total of Rs 10 lakh coverage for medical expenses.
The decision comes a day after the newly formed Delhi government approved the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme as one of its first cabinet decisions. The National Health Authority (NHA) has already started backend preparations, including training workers and setting up necessary systems to roll out the scheme soon.
"As what we call wallet sequencing in our IT system, the initial Rs 5 lakhs will be given by the Centre while the rest Rs 5 lakhs will be given by the Delhi government. We are working on how it has to be processed," said Kiran Gopal Vaska, Joint Secretary and Mission Director of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
According to officials, the NHA and the Delhi Health Department are finalising important aspects such as identifying beneficiaries, processing claims, and setting up a grievance redressal system.
The teams are also working on integrating hospitals into the scheme, including those that were earlier empanelled directly by the NHA. These hospitals will now be part of Delhi’s state empanelment to streamline healthcare services under the scheme.
"Delhi government officials have already approached the NHA and we are working on onboarding Delhi into the scheme. This includes preparing beneficiary information and integrating hospitals that were previously empanelled directly by the NHA. These hospitals will now be part of Delhi's state empanelment," Vaska said.
Training sessions for Ayushman card creation and claim submissions have already begun, officials said, adding that both central and state teams are working together to complete the necessary preparations quickly so that the scheme can start benefiting families as soon as possible.
The Delhi government and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to officially launch the expanded health insurance scheme in the capital.
