Are you eligible for Ayushman Bharat Scheme? Here's what you need to know to check information online, offline

Ayushman Bharat Scheme or the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2018. The national health scheme offers insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family, wherein “family” is not limited to the number of members or age. This will ensure that girls, women, and senior citizens will also be able to avail the benefits of the scheme and not be discriminated against during ill-health.

More than 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) will be covered across the country, and the insurance includes pre-and post-hospitalisation expenses.

The scheme includes over 1,300 health packages covering surgery, medical, and daycare treatments including medicines, diagnostics, and transport. Moreover, treatments such as coronary bypass and knee replacements will be provided at rates 15 to 20 percent less than those of the Central Government Health Scheme.

PMJAY’s benefits can be availed at both government and listed private hospitals. Hospitals from which the scheme can be availed have an “Ayushman Mitra Help Desk” that will help potential beneficiaries check their eligibility. Beneficiaries can prove their identity via their Aadhaar card, Voter ID, or Ration card.

An eligibility chart for the Ayushman Bharath program via Factly.in

A patient needs to get hospitalised to get free treatment under this yojana as it covers only secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. Health services include hospitalisation expenses, pre-and post-hospitalisation expenses and benefits, daycare surgeries, follow-up care, newborn child/children services, etc.

Eligibility shall be checked by various processes, which include inspecting letters with QR codes that belong to beneficiaries and authenticating the same. Those who wish to enrol for the scheme will be identified by the government through various means, but there are certain documents they will need to possess. A bank account is the most basic of these requirements. The eligibility criteria are different for families in rural and urban areas.

Rural areas

The eligibility criteria listed below can be verified on the Ayushman Bharat official website: https://mera.pmjay.gov.in/search/login

1. Families living in only one room with kachcha walls and kachcha roof
2. Families with no adult members aged between 16 and 59
3.  Female-headed families with no adult male member in the 16-59 age group
4. Families having at least one disabled member and no able-bodied adult member
5. SC/ST households
6. Landless households deriving a major part of their income from manual casual labour
7. Destitutes and those surviving on alms
8.  Manual scavenger families
9. Tribal groups
10. Legally released bonded labourers

Urban areas

The following 11 occupational categories of workers are included in the list by the government:

• Ragpicker
• Beggar
• Domestic worker
• Street vendor/ cobbler/ hawker/ other service providers working on the streets
• Construction worker/ plumber/ mason/ labour/ painter/ welder/ security guard/ coolie and other head-load workers
• Sweeper/ sanitation worker/ gardener
• Home-based worker/ artisan/ handicrafts worker/ tailor
• Transport worker/ driver/ conductor/ helper to drivers and conductors/ cart-puller/ rickshaw puller
• Shop worker/ assistant/ peon in small establishment/ helper/ delivery assistant/ attendant/ waiter
• Electrician/ mechanic/ assembler/ repair worker
• Washerman/ chowkidar

How to check your eligibility offline

To check your eligibility offline to avail the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, dial the toll-free helpline number, 14555

Step 1: Visit https://mera.pmjay.gov.in/search/login and enter your mobile number

Step 2: Enter the Captcha letters that are displayed on the screen, and click on “Generate OTP”

Step 3: You will receive the OTP via text message on the mobile number you previously entered. Enter this OTP on the screen and click “Verify OTP”

Step 4: You will be directed to a screen where you can check your eligibility by entering any one of the three: Mobile number/Ration Card Number (collected during additional data collection drive that was conducted on 30 April 2018), Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) name, or RSBY URN

Step 5: If your name is there in the list, it will show on the right side of the page. You can click on the “Family Members” tab to view the beneficiary details and information of the family members covered under the scheme.