Ayushman Bharat Expands Healthcare Coverage for Seniors to Include Alzheimer's and Cancer
Tuesday, 08 October 2024, 10:41 IST
Ayushman Bharat expands the coverage for elderly along with treatments for Alzheimer and cancer among the many prevalent geriatric conditions.
The AB-PMJAY seems to be expanding its scope by including treatments for varieties of prevalent geriatric conditions such as Alzheimer's, dementia, heart failure, and cancer.
Currently, the AB-PMJAY offers around 25 health packages towards elderly care, but the government is gearing up to introduce more packages targeting the specific health needs of elderly citizens. To that effect, the initiative targets an increasing proportion of the elderly population, where it already plans to cover more or less every citizen over 70 years old irrespective of his economic status.
The National Health Authority running AB-PMJAY has been designing new health packages aimed at concentrating on ailments that commonly affect the elderly. According to a health ministry official, "A committee of doctors reviews health packages from time to time, but this is a special case in view of the elderly population. The committee will consider all critical health issues requiring hospitalization and also develop packages for timely treatment".
This expansion will reach nearly 60 million people from about 45 million households, thereby ensuring elderly citizens get essential healthcare services. Conditions that are focused on these new packages include stroke, fractures, heart failure, and cancer, which are very common among the elderly.
Dr. Prasun Chatterjee, additional medical superintendent at the National Centre for Ageing, concurs that elderly care is showing a positive trend and many conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia are accompanied by complications that put them in the hospital. Dr. Vinay Aggarwal, who chairs Indian Medical Association's action committee, mentioned the financial stress that many elderly patients face where private insurance was expensive and would only pay up if the person was relatively young. "This government scheme is a lifeline for many", he said.
Therefore, the health cover it provides to a family in a year is ₹5 lakh for hospitalisation. It is one of the world's largest public health assurance programs, and since it was launched in 2018, it is a centrally sponsored scheme which has 60% central funding and 40% state funding.
The AB-PMJAY seems to be expanding its scope by including treatments for varieties of prevalent geriatric conditions such as Alzheimer's, dementia, heart failure, and cancer.
Currently, the AB-PMJAY offers around 25 health packages towards elderly care, but the government is gearing up to introduce more packages targeting the specific health needs of elderly citizens. To that effect, the initiative targets an increasing proportion of the elderly population, where it already plans to cover more or less every citizen over 70 years old irrespective of his economic status.
The National Health Authority running AB-PMJAY has been designing new health packages aimed at concentrating on ailments that commonly affect the elderly. According to a health ministry official, "A committee of doctors reviews health packages from time to time, but this is a special case in view of the elderly population. The committee will consider all critical health issues requiring hospitalization and also develop packages for timely treatment".
This expansion will reach nearly 60 million people from about 45 million households, thereby ensuring elderly citizens get essential healthcare services. Conditions that are focused on these new packages include stroke, fractures, heart failure, and cancer, which are very common among the elderly.
Dr. Prasun Chatterjee, additional medical superintendent at the National Centre for Ageing, concurs that elderly care is showing a positive trend and many conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia are accompanied by complications that put them in the hospital. Dr. Vinay Aggarwal, who chairs Indian Medical Association's action committee, mentioned the financial stress that many elderly patients face where private insurance was expensive and would only pay up if the person was relatively young. "This government scheme is a lifeline for many", he said.
Therefore, the health cover it provides to a family in a year is ₹5 lakh for hospitalisation. It is one of the world's largest public health assurance programs, and since it was launched in 2018, it is a centrally sponsored scheme which has 60% central funding and 40% state funding.
Source: siliconindia
