Keeping the importance of the healthcare and the access to better and timely medical facilities which the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been aspiring for, the Administrative Council has accorded sanction to extend the Jammu and Kashmir Health Scheme to provide free of cost Universal Health Coverage to all residents in Jammu and Kashmir. Lieutenant Governor Girish Chander Murmu presided over the meeting where this important decision was taken. This facility is under the flagship scheme of Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY). Vide this decision, which is indeed commendable, the entire population of 1.25 crore of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir stand covered under cashless insurance facilities, the same as under Ayushman Bharat Yojna (PMJAY) or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna.
It is interesting to note that while benefits under the PMJAY are available to and are based on the eligibility of the data of socio economic and caste census of 2011 ( the next falling due) and priority accorded to female child, women and senior citizens, in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, however, under the scheme, the beneficiaries irrespective of any specific limitation of any kind shall be entitled to free health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lacs per family per year on floater basis without any restrictions on family, age or gender. This scheme , otherwise, was rolled out in the country in late 2018 and hundreds of thousands of people across the country have so far benefitted from this scheme including from Jammu and Kashmir. Since very less from the GDP was being spent on healthcare as compared to emerging needs from cross sections of the society, starting this scheme really has been one of the landmark decisions of the Government which now stands extended in full to all the citizens of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. Process of its actual implementation, issuing of necessary e-cards or whatever mode, need to be accorded priority to enable the concerned patients suffering from the diseases mentioned in the scheme, getting hassles free benefits in time and when needed the most.
Plan to make secondary and tertiary healthcare completely cashless is the hallmark of the scheme. It is pertinent to note that treatment for all pre-existing illnesses shall also be available in all the empanelled hospitals not only in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir but across the entire country which stand at 20853 comprising both public and private hospitals. Similarly, it is a nice decision to increase the number of empanelled medical units, both private and public, from 159 to 1469 in the UT to cover surgeries and post care in life consuming diseases like cancer and kidney failures. Not only this, cover is provided to diseases like oncology, cardiology and nephrology related illness with cover from day one including high-end diagnostic procedures during hospitalisation. The mode of availing of the facility in terms of cost of such treatments has been facilitated with the help of inter-state portability. While the decision to extend the scheme to one and all in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir is hailed, it is again hoped that the process of all modalities and prerequisites in order to derive the intended benefits by the people are not only expedited but simplified.
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