Strengthening the Health System in India through Ayushman Bharat (AB) - Prime Minister’s Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) - Core Areas to look in to for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Background: Government of India flagged off a very big health scheme for poor in the name of  ‘Ayushman Bharat’ (AB)  with a huge increase in medical cover for poorer section of the society from Sep 2018. This covers secondary and tertiary hospitalization care  to approximately 40% of the population. Objectives: As the scheme involves huge financial outlay, this paper attempts to evaluate performance  and understand whether the core objectives are met on the lines of Universal Health. Methods: A  exhaustive survey of related literatures and published data on the official web site of AB is made. Results: The scheme is reasonably  successful in  providing financial relief but need to look at areas concerning quality delivery. Conclusions: With the larger objective of ‘Universal Health’, the beneficiaries list need to be reviewed. The scheme should look at bringing down the out of pocket expenses