How To Apply For Ayushman Card?

 While everyone wants to access free hospital treatment, it is important to note that only eligible individuals can get Ayushman Card

To ensure that poor families have access to healthcare, the government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) in 2018. It has been a key initiative that has helped millions of people to access free healthcare. High healthcare costs have been identified as one of the key reasons for people falling below the poverty line. This problem has been effectively tackled with the PMJAY scheme.

What is Ayushman Card?

Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, poor households get health assurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. This amount is meant for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. Users can avail the free benefits at any of the empaneled public or private hospitals across India. For easy access and cashless access to healthcare services, eligible individuals can create and use the Ayushman Card.

Who is eligible for Ayushman Card?

Major healthcare costs such as surgeries are a huge burden for every family. Even middle-class families have to face financial problems when faced with accidents, costly medical procedures, major diseases, etc. However, even if one can wish for free access to healthcare services, it is available only to eligible individuals. The Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme essentially covers the bottom 40% of the country's population. Around 12 crore poor households and vulnerable families are covered, which is a total of around 55 crore beneficiaries.

Talking about who is eligible for Ayushman Card, families mentioned in the SECC 2011 can apply for Ayushman Card. SECC is short for Socio-Economic Caste Census that was conducted in 2011. Families were included in SECC 2011 based on their deprivation and occupational criteria. Also covered are people that were earlier enrolled with the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). PMJAY is funded entirely by the government. Implementation cost is shared jointly by the central and state governments.

How to apply for Ayushman Card?

With its digital governance initiatives, the government has made it a lot easier to apply and download the Ayushman card. However, as mentioned earlier, only the eligible individuals can get the Ayushman Card. To know if you are eligible, you can visit the https://beneficiary.nha.gov.in/ website. You have to enter and verify your mobile number to login to the website. Once inside, you can check if you are eligible to apply for Ayushman Card.

If your family is listed under SECC 2011, your name will appear on the website. Or, it is also possible that someone else from your family may be registered under SECC 2011. A faster way to apply for Ayushman card is via the Ayushman App. If your name is registered under SECC 2011, you will be eligible to apply for Ayushman Card. You just have to verify your details using Aadhaar OTP. There are some e-KYC processes as well such as face matching that needs to be done. You can do e-KYC for yourself as well as your family members. e-KYC can also be done via fingerprint and IRIS scan.

If everything works out smoothly, your Ayushman card will be generated online. If you are facing problems, you will probably have to contact the support team. Contact details are available on both the website and the app. If you feel that you are eligible, but your name or family details are missing from SECC 2011, you need to get in touch with your Gram Panchayat office. You can also approach your BDO or district collector’s office. Once your name is entered into SECC 2011, you can apply online for Ayushman card. Here is the link to check if your name is covered under SECC 2011 - https://mnregaweb2.nic.in/netnrega/dynamic_account_details_ippe.aspx