The government of India has taken a number of measures to improve the health care system in the country, which currently needs significant real intervention. The government is taking the necessary steps in this direction by using low cost, good quality drugs and putting in place a centralized procurement system.

India spends only 1.2 percent of its GDP on healthcare and according to a report released by CILL and PWC at Health Insurance Summit in Delhi, only 20% of the population has some kind of public healthcare facility.

To provide public healthcare facility to every citizen of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) which will be implemented from September 25, 2018, the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. The scheme, which was launched in Ranchi, on 23rd September, is the biggest government sponsored healthcare scheme in the world.

The government aims to provide healthcare facilities to over 10 crore families covering urban and rural poor during the current financial year. PMJAY offers an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh, which will cover 10 crore poor families or almost 50 crore persons (assuming family has 5 members). The beneficiaries of the scheme will be provided with Ayushman Bharat Family Health Cards.

The highlight of the scheme is as follows

• The scheme will cover around 50 crore people.
• To ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and the elderly), there will be no cap on the family size and age under the AB-NHPS.
• The scheme will be cashless and paperless at public hospitals and impaneled private hospitals.
• Ayushman Bharat may cost the exchequer around Rs 5,000 crore this year
• The scheme will cost Rs 10,000 crore when it rolled out across India next year.
• During the current year, there are likely to be 8 crore beneficiaries, the target is to cover 10 crores by 2020.
• In the first year, out of the total expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore, the central government may bear the burden of around Rs 3,000 crore.
• It will increase to almost Rs 7,000 crore in financial 2020.
• The expenditure of this scheme Central government will contribute 60 percent while the state will provide the balance 40 percent