English

Abstract

BACKGROUND The Ayushman Bharat scheme claimed to cover all pre-existing ailments and 1,350 medical packages covering day care treatments, medicine, diagnosis, and surgery. We wanted to address the research question of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana viability in depleting pocket expenses in a rustic terrain of Haryana. METHODS The data of 114 policyholders had been collected through a questionnaire using a convenience sampling technique in the Sirsi and Madanpur village of Haryana. The respondents were asked questions and their responses were recorded in the questionnaires accordingly. All respondents were from the rustic territory of the Karnal district. The collected data was analysed with the usage of descriptive statistics. RESULTS The respondents (18.4 percent) who had sickness, paid for their treatment from their own pockets instead of getting it done under the scheme. The scheme claimed that no empanelled hospital turned-down treatment. Survey acknowledged that private hospitals asked for valid cards of some respondents (8.8 percent). Some family member names were left out from the card, mainly kids under the age of 5 - years. Some respondents were having trouble in getting the card and found no offline application centre for applying. CONCLUSIONS The survey concluded that no policyholder had acknowledged any medical benefits from the scheme. The need is to create more awareness in the families of ailments and remove the hitch in getting the card. Each ailment (from little to fatal) needs to secure to utilize the stipulated claim. KEY WORDS Ayushman Bharat, Government-Funded Health Insurance Scheme, Out-of-Pocket Expenditure, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana