The Ayushman Bharat Card is issued under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a government health scheme launched under the National Health Policy, 2017 to provide comprehensive universal health coverage. It covers two components – Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) to deliver primary healthcare services to the beneficiaries, and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), a health assurance scheme providing health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per year per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. 

The scheme provides cashless healthcare facilities to the underprivileged or economically weaker sections of society. To avail of these services, the person needs to show the Ayushman card to any public or private hospital impaneled with the scheme. A total of 284.50 million Ayushman cards have been issued till December 20, 2023, since the inception of the AB-PMJAY in September 2018, including around 93.80 million cards issued in 2023. 

One can apply for the Ayushman Card through the ‘Ayushman App’ launched by the National Health Authority after e-verifying the details.

 What Are The Ayushman Bharat Yojana And Ayushman Card? 

The Ayushman Bharat Yojana offers benefits, including health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization at impaneled hospitals, cashless services, three days pre-and 15 days post-hospitalization expenses, including medicines and diagnostics, and more than 1,900 medical procedures. It covers all pre-existing diseases from day one, and there is no restriction on family size, age, and gender, according to the National Health Authority’s website. 

The beneficiaries of this scheme (economically weaker section of society) are based on the Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011, and any other beneficiaries of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) plan, which was merged with the Ayushman Yojana.

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How To Check The Eligibility: 

To apply for the card, one needs to check one’s eligibility and download the card.

Here’s the process to download the card.  

You have to first visit the government website for the PM-JAY scheme and click on the “Am I Eligible” tab on the homepage to check eligibility. After filling up the phone number, captcha code, one-time password (OTP), and personal details, such as name, state name, family members, etc., the details of the person will appear if the person is eligible for the benefits.

How To Download The Ayushman Card? 

Step 1: Download the official Ayushman app on your phone and log in if you are eligible for the benefits 

Step 2: Select state, scheme (PM-JAY), search criteria, such as family ID, Aadhaar, and PMJAY ID, and select the district. Write the ID number selected in the search criteria option and click on the ‘search’ button

 Step 3: The next window will show the list of family members in the family ID. If your or a family member’s name appears in green colour, click on the ‘download card’ option on the right to download the card. 

But, if the name appears in orange colour, it means the KYC is not complete. To do e-KYC, click on the e-KYC button on the right side.  

Step 4: The authentication pop-up will show options (Aadhaar OTP, Fingerprint, IRIS scan, Face Authentication). Select the suitable option. (Let’s consider the Aadhaar OTP option here).

Step 5: Write your Aadhaar number and click on verify. Next, the consent form will open. Read it carefully and tick the allow option. 

Step 6: Once the Aadhaar details are verified, a ‘green tick’ will show after the Aadhaar number. Then, enter your Aadhaar OTP and mobile OTP in the given box for authentication. 

Step 7: The next page will show your name, age, gender, relationship, scheme, approval status, Aadhaar ID, Family ID, member ID, mobile number, and address. You can do the e-KYC with any of the four options (Aadhaar OTP, Fingerprint, IRIS scan, Face Authentication) 

Let’s consider the Aadhaar OTP option here. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for authentication. 

Step 8: After authentication, the e-KYC page will open. In the beneficiary photograph option on the top of the screen, click on camera to capture your photo.

This image will be matched with your Aadhaar image. The app will show the percentage match of the image. If the match is less than 80 percent, it will be sent to the Implementation Support Agency (ISA) or the State Health Agency (SHA) for approval. But if the image match is more than 80 percent, the e-KYC will be approved. 

Step 9: Once the e-KYC is approved, you need to provide some more information before the card can be downloaded, such as your relationship with the head of the family, age, pin code, state, district, etc. 

Step 10: After selecting the personal details from the drop-down options, click on ‘Submit’. The pop-up message will show ‘e-KYC is complete. Download the Ayushman Card after some time. 

Step 11: Click ‘Okay’, and you will be directed to the list of family members. Click on the ‘Download Card’ option on the right side of each family member whose name is in green and authenticate with the suitable option, OTP, and consent.  

Step 12: The next window will show the card with three options, download, print, or share the card. Select your preferred option.   

The Ayushman Bharat health card is easy to carry and can be shown to the impanelled hospitals to avail of medical treatment without paying cash.