Health Ministry's 100-Day Action Plan Has Ayushman Bharat Cover For 70+, U-Win Rollout, Claims Exchange & More

The Modi 3.0 government’s ‘100 day action plan’ is likely to include major initiatives such as expanding Ayushman Bharat to cover senior citizens aged 70 and above, launching a national health claims exchange, and rolling out U-Win for digital vaccine record keeping for children and pregnant women, News18 has learnt.

In April, while unveiling the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Lok Sabha election manifesto, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that senior citizens over 70 years old and the transgender community would be included in the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the central government’s health scheme. The scheme provides a health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation and its expansion is the top priority among the 100-day agenda prepared by the health ministry.

However, the fine-tuning of the scheme is awaiting the report by the expert panel – constituted in March and headed by Niti Aayog’s VK Paul – to strengthen the format of the scheme to take load of the planned expansion.

“Once the report is submitted by the panel, the plan to include elderly above 70 can be made more concisely. However, as it is promised by PM Modi, it will come into effect soon,” a senior government official told News18.

It is expected that the move will help over six crore senior citizens in India as most medical insurance companies don’t offer medical insurance to those above 70 years of age. Insurance companies either don’t offer insurance to this age bracket or they charge extremely high annual premiums that are way beyond affordable for many Indian families.

The health ministry has also shortlisted a project for quicker issuance of licences or registration in select food businesses under the food regulator FSSAI and deployment of Arogya Maitri Cubes in central government hospitals to meet health emergencies.

HEALTH CLAIMS EXCHANGE & U-WIN ON THE CARDS?

Another official privy to the development told News18 that the National Health Authority, which is an apex body responsible for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat, has suggested the launch of a national health claims exchange (NHCX). “The platform will be ready for launch next month and is being considered to become the part of first 100-day launches,” the second official said.

“Currently, insurance companies have separate portals, creating a cumbersome and time-consuming process for hospitals, patients, and other stakeholders to handle health insurance claims,” the officer explained, adding, “The NHCX is a digital health claims platform developed by the NHA to ensure interoperability and expedite the processing of health insurance claims.”

This claims exchange has been developed as part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), but can also help boost the acceptance of Ayushman Bharat among private and tertiary care hospitals.

The health ministry is also planning to roll out the U-WIN portal, which was modelled after the Co-WIN Covid vaccination application. The portal is designed to maintain an electronic registry of routine immunizations under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

The portal aims to cater to 2.6 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women every year and it is expected that the U-WIN could be the answer to India’s problem of keeping track of the next vaccination dose. The platform is integrated with Co-WIN, where records can be accessed or registered using a mobile number.