PMJAY: How to Apply for Ayushman Bharat Golden Card?

Nowadays, health insurance becomes the top priority for everyone as it safeguards them from various unforeseen healthcare emergencies. But lower-economic groups and rural people are reluctant in purchasing health insurance policies due to lack of awareness, poor financial condition, and unavailability of the internet. But the government of India introduced PMJAY or Ayushman Bharat Yojana so that these poor people can enjoy the benefits of health insurance. To avail of the cashless facility under PMJAY, a person should have Ayushman Bharat golden card.

What is PMJAY?

This is the flagship scheme of the government of India that offers financial assistance to beneficiaries. The scheme will take care of all your hospital expenses in case of medical contingencies. This scheme is ideal for poor, vulnerable, and backward class people.  

After the independence speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ayushman Bharat Yojana scheme was launched in September 2015. The scheme covers more than 50 Crore poor citizens of India. The scheme offers a sum insured of Rs. 5 lakhs to a family. The scheme also offers coverage for diagnostic costs, medicines, pre-and post-hospitalization treatment costs, COVID-19 expenses, and all other secondary and tertiary healthcare procedures. The plan includes near about 140 costlier treatment expenses including knee replacement surgery, brain surgery, etc. Most importantly, all follow-up treatment costs are also covered by the scheme.

PMJAY scheme also welcomes beneficiaries with cashless treatment facilities at network hospitals. To enjoy this facility, all beneficiaries must have an Ayushman Bharat gold card which they need to show at the time of hospitalization. All beneficiaries should go for an Ayushman card apply to avail of cashless treatment facilities.

Who is eligible for the Ayushman Bharat Yojana Scheme?

People whose names are included in the data list of the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) of the year 2011 and have Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana can apply for this scheme. The eligibility criteria are not the same for rural and urban people. 

Eligibility Criteria for Rural Peoples

• Families without any members between the age group of 16 to 59 years
• Families with no adult or earning members within the age group of 16 to 59 years
• Families who are staying in one room kutcha house with walls and roof
• Families with one disabled member and no wholesome adult member
• People of scrounger family

Eligibility Criteria for Urban Peoples

• Domestic helpers
• Home-based tailors/ handicraft workers/ gardeners/ sweepers/ artisans/ sanitation workers
• Hawkers/ street vendors/ cobblers
• Security guards/ construction workers/ welders/ coolies/ painters
• Washer men/ masons/ plumbers
• Cobblers
• Mechanics/ repair workers/ electricians/ assemblers
• Beggars
• Waiters/ peons/ shop workers/ delivery assistants
• Transport workers/ cart pullers/ conductors

Ayushman Bharat Golden Card Online Procedure

To enjoy cashless treatment facilities under the PMJAY scheme, you must go for the golden card online apply procedure. Let’s take a look at the golden card registration steps.

• Open the official website of PMJAY
• Now, check the login option of the website
• Enter your ‘mobile number’ and the captcha code
• An OTP will be generated
• Enter the OTP to login to the website
• Select the HHD code and provide the code to the Common Service Centre (CSC). The CSC will verify the code along with other details
• The Ayushman Mitra or the CSC representatives will complete the rest of the process
• You need to pay Rs. 30 to get the Ayushman Golden card
• Your Ayushman Bharat Golden card will be issued

Benefits of having an Ayushman Bharat Yojana Scheme

The PMJAY scheme offers a plethora of benefits to poor and weaker communities in multifarious ways. Let’s consider some of the prime benefits of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.

• Since the PMJAY scheme is a family floater scheme, hence you can include your entire family under the same policy.
• With this scheme, the lower economic groups enjoy the benefits of online health insurance plans without using the internet facility.
• This scheme supports all beneficiaries of the country to receive the best healthcare treatment methods and facilities without paying any cost.
• The scheme offers coverage for 25 specialty categories and about 1354 medical and surgical packages, including cardiology, neurology, etc.
• The scheme provides coverage for 50 types of cancers along with chemotherapy expenses.
• If someone needs to perform multiple surgeries, the PMJAY scheme offers the coverage for the highest package. But the second surgery cost will be covered for up to 50 per cent and the third surgery cost will be covered for up to 25 percent of the total expenditures
• The scheme covers all daycare expenses
• The scheme offers coverage for all pre-and post-hospitalization expenses along with the transportation cost during your hospitalization period
• The beneficiaries are also eligible to avail of the coverage for follow-up treatment
• The scheme offers coverage for certain pre-existing diseases
• Under this scheme, beneficiaries can get their treatments at both public and private network hospitals. At the time of hospitalization, they just need to show the Ayushman Bharat Golden card.

Conclusion

Ayushman Bharat Yojana or PMJAY is indubitably the most applauded health insurance scheme across the country. This scheme offers an array of benefits to the poor, weak and economically backward classes. If you have the Ayushman Bharat Golden Card, then you can also enjoy cashless facilities at network hospitals. Follow the aforementioned steps to apply for the Ayushman Golden card.