The government-backed Ayushman Bharat Yojana provides health insurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh to the economically weaker sections of society, including senior citizens. However, it was felt that older people, especially those aged 70 and above, across all economic backgrounds, who are also among the most vulnerable, should have equal access to its benefits. In view of that, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vowed during the national elections to extend the same.

Yet, the FY2024-25 Budget for Ayushman Bharat doesn’t see a hike, at Rs 7,300 crore compared to the previous year, raising doubts about whether the government is serious about its poll promise. Further, according to an Indian Express report, the government spent around Rs 9,878.5 crore of the total Rs 79,200 crore in the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the past six years as of January 2024, on the treatment of seniors aged 70 and above. The report also states that beneficiaries over 70 years comprised about 12 per cent of the total admissions under the scheme, and some 57.5 lakh people in this age group were approved for hospital admission.

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Priyadarshini Mulye, a Sebi-registered investment advisor and certified financial planner, says, “Budget allocation for schemes like Ayushman Bharat should be more. If the allocation was more, it would have been a strong move toward the health and well-being of senior citizens. This budget couldn’t do justice to this.”

On extending coverage for all seniors irrespective of income, Mulye says, “Seniors need affordable, timely medical treatments. Though there are personal health insurance policies, not all senior citizens, especially those from rural areas, know about them. Even if they do, due to high premiums, which include GST, make them less affordable even for middle-class people. Suitable changes can be made to the Ayushman Bharat scheme so that senior citizens across income groups can access and benefit from the scheme.”

Ayushman Bharat Yojana Beneficiaries

Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018, initially covering 10.74 crore families under the scheme based on the socio-economic caste census 2011. In January 2022, the number of beneficiaries rose to 12 crore families. However, the apparent delay in announcing a policy framework to extend its coverage to all seniors, irrespective of their economic backgrounds, may have caused disappointment in some quarters. In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha last month, Union Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav said, “No expert committee has been set up for extending the health benefits to senior citizens aged 70 and above.”

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Need For Health Insurance Coverage

India’s elderly population is projected to reach around 320 million by 2050, or nearly 20 per cent of its population. Furthermore, by the middle of the century, one in every five citizens would be 65 or older. As a result, the dependency ratio will rise. This data assumes significance in the backdrop of Niti Aayog’s position paper, which estimated that around 78 per cent of India’s senior population does not have a pension cover. With a growing ageing population and financial insecurities in old age, extending the Ayushman Bharat scheme to all seniors will make sense.