Bhubaneswar: The Union Government's flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is all set to roll out in Odisha alongside the State's own health scheme Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY), informed Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling today. 

GJAY, which has replaced the previous BJD government's flagship Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), will, along with Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), provide cashless treatment to patients in approximately 27,000 empanelled hospitals across the country. 

Mahaling also informed that around 3 crore beneficiaries from over 1 crore households will get the health cards under the scheme. Senior citizens aged above 70 years and migrant labourers  will also be entitled to avail benefits from the new healthcare scheme, he said. While 67 lakh households will be given health coverage under Ayushman Bharat, the remaining 33 lakh households will be enrolled under GJAY. 

Under the new system, men will be able to avail health insurance upto Rs 5 lakh while for women, the coverage will be doubled upto Rs 10 lakh, the Health Minister said. 

Soon after winning the General and Assembly elections in Odisha, the BJP, in a major announcement had shared that the previous Government's flagship Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana will be taken over by Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Addressing mediapersons, the Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal had said BSKY will no longer be implemented and will be replaced by Ayushman Bharat Yojana which is the Government of India's national public health insurance scheme providing free access to health insurance coverage for low income earners in the country.

BSKY, which covered approximately 70 lakh families, did not offer many benefits but people under Ayushman Bharat will have access to optimum health services.