The newly elected Rajasthan BJP government has proposed a merging of the state's Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme with the national Ayushman Bharat program, as per two officials familiar with the matter.
This new initiative, to be named the Ayushman Bharat Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme, aims to maintain the current benefits offered by the state program. This includes an insurance cover of Rs.25 lakh available in both private and government hospitals, as stated by the officials.
Compared to Ayushman Bharat's Rs.5 lakh coverage, the Chiranjeevi scheme, originally introduced by former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of the Congress party, provides higher insurance coverage.
An official from the state government affirmed, "The scheme will persist, and the coverage amount will remain unchanged; there will be no reduction."
Attempts to obtain comments from the Union Health Ministry and the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) of Rajasthan regarding this matter went unanswered at the time of publication.
During the campaigning period, Gehlot had urged the Prime Minister to maintain his flagship schemes regardless of the election results. He had expressed concerns that the BJP might discontinue the Chiranjeevi scheme.
Presently, over 1.42 crore families are benefiting from the ongoing Chiranjeevi scheme. The final statistics regarding the scheme are yet to be confirmed by the health ministry, as per the officials.
