An Indian government health assurance scheme launched on September 23, 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, built on a recommendation of India's National Health Policy 2017 to move the country toward universal health coverage. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, abbreviated PM-JAY, is billed as the largest health assurance scheme in the world, offering a health cover of 500,000 rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospital care to roughly 120 million poor and vulnerable families, representing the poorest 40 percent of India's population. It forms the second component of the broader Ayushman Bharat program, alongside a parallel initiative converting existing sub-centres and primary health centres into Health and Wellness Centres, and by late 2025 more than 420 million Ayushman cards had been issued to beneficiaries, with more than 33,000 public and private hospitals empaneled to provide covered treatment nationwide.
Facts
Program StatusActive, expanded in September 2024 to cover all citizens aged 70 and above regardless of income 1 Sponsoring BodyGovernment of India, administered by the National Health Authority, jointly funded by the union government and the states 1 Target PopulationRoughly the bottom 50 percent of India population by income, about 500 million people, later expanded to all citizens aged 70 and above regardless of income 1 Health GoalFree secondary and tertiary hospitalization insurance coverage of 5 lakh rupees per family per year in empaneled hospitals 1 Geographic ScopeIndia, national, though not implemented in every state 1 Measured ResultsOver 116.9 million hospital admissions recorded since launch, with hospital treatments sanctioned worth 1.73 lakh crore rupees 1 Program status (class) Classification
Program KindHealth Insurance or Financing Program 1 Connections
Delivers Practice
Entity-backed identity for the program-kind enum value this public health program already carries, resolved to a health practice by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The program-kind fact itself stays on the program unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Asia, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ayushman Bharat Yojana
WikipediaHistory section, launch-date sentence
AB PM-JAY was first launched on 23 September 2018 at Ranchi, Jharkhand.
History section, 2024 senior-expansion sentence
In September 2024, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna was extended to include the senior population of the country, irrespective of their economic background or income from pension or savings.
lead paragraph, administering-authority sentence
That ministry later established the National Health Authority as an organization to administer the program.
lead paragraph, eligibility sentence
Roughly, the bottom 50% of the country qualifies for this scheme.
Features section, coverage-amount clause
providing a cover of ₹5 lakh (equivalent to ₹5.6 lakh or US$5,800 in 2023) per family per year for medical treatment in empaneled hospitals, both public and private
Implementation section, state-participation sentence
India's 28 states and 8 union territories each make their own choice about whether to participate in Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
Impact section, admissions-count sentence
Since its launch, the scheme has recorded over 116.9 million hospital admissions.
lead paragraph, first sentence, abbreviation clause
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY)
- Wikipedia 'Ayushman Bharat Yojana': 'is a national public health insurance scheme...aims to provide'; checked 2026-09-27.
Program classification, entity description sentence
An Indian government health assurance scheme launched on September 23, 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, built on a recommendation of India's National Health Policy 2017 to move the country toward universal health coverage.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.