The Indian government is looking for ways to make healthcare facilities under Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) available to every citizen in the country. Moreover, the government is also negotiating reasonable procurement prices to make expensive medical devices available for treatments.
For this purpose, the authorities are in constant discussion with the industry to ease out prices. This will, in turn, make the PMJAY scheme truly cost-effective for the government and more beneficial for the people covered under it.
As we all know, AB-PMJAY is a brainchild scheme of Mr. Narendra Modi and his government, also famously known as Modicare. It is said to be the world’s largest completely government-backed health insurance scheme to be put in action. People eligible under this scheme will be provided a coverage of up to INR 5 Lakh per family per year. PMJAY scheme also provides cashless and paperless access to healthcare facilities at any private or government hospitals.
All the public hospitals empaneled under the PMJAY scheme are authorized to use GeM (Government e-Marketplace). All medical device manufacturers in India and their respective resellers are listed on this site. The site is said to offer discounts on products based on the payment terms (either directly or through an authorized dealer network).
There have been continuous discussions to get the empaneled private hospitals authorized to procure under GeM. Overall, the industry is planning to establish a centralized purchase system wherein the manufacturers have to treat PMJAY as their most preferred buyer and offer adequate discounts to the same.
The medical industry manufacturers have proposed a deal wherein they are willing to offer empaneled hospitals the opportunity to procure their devices at a discounted rate. This discount is even applicable to those patients who do not fall under the PMJAY scheme.
On the other hand, the impact this will have on the medical industry is that even though the prices of procurement of medical devices for the scheme may decrease, the number of procedures will eventually increase. This only means that the requirement for the devices will drastically increase under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
In the long run, the increase in the requirement of the medical devices will only benefit the overall industry. Further, it will help the industry sustain better and enable the production of affordable medical devices, which are faster and more efficient.
A Final Thought
PMJAY scheme was primarily implemented to provide healthcare services to the poor and the vulnerable families across the country. The scheme will complete a year this September and has helped over 10 crore families (approx. 50 crore individuals) to avail necessary medical assistance.
This only shows us the importance of an adequate health insurance plan. Now, even if you are not eligible under the PMJAY scheme, you still can cover yourself and your loved ones with a suitable mediclaim plan. You can browse through different Bajaj health insurance plans available on Finserv MARKETS and choose the coverage that is best suitable for your family’s medical needs.