1 / 9The central government has planned to extend the Ayushman Bharat health cover to 40 crore more people for a nominal premium amount.At present, more than 50 crore people are already a part of AB-PMJAY (Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana).2 / 9Although the scheme offers free annual health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to prime beneficiaries, it will be available at an affordable premium to those who cannot avail benefits of health insurance at the retail price.3 / 9Currently, more than 30% of the population is devoid of any health insurance plan due to the coverage loopholes in PMJAY. With this extension, the government plans to reduce the health insurance premium by more than a third of the retail price and make it affordable for such people.4 / 9Moreover, the National Health Authority (NHA), which is the governing body for AB-PMJAY, is planning to launch a pilot project in selected states in the coming months. 5 / 9Later, the coverage will be extended across India. Under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the beneficiaries can access all premium health facilities in the government and private sectors without any income limit.6 / 9Also, the private wards of the government hospitals will be available for the treatment of people under this scheme.7 / 9Ayushman Bharat Yojana eligibility is divided among the households in both rural and urban areas, which are categorized based on the occupational and deprivation criteria of Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011.8 / 9It was launched with a vision to help mitigate exorbitant medical expenses that push close to 6 Crore Indians towards poverty annually.9 / 9Before it was rechristened the scheme was termed as the National Health Protection Scheme. It subsumed the current Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana that was launched in 2008. It also covers the families that were covered under RSBY but are not present in the SECC 2011 database. This scheme is funded by the Indian Government.