The Uttarakhand Government has rechristened the Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojna, the universal Health insurance scheme, as Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana (AAUY) in memory of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who passed away recently. A decision in this regard was taken in course of the State Cabinet meeting on Monday. The State Government spokesperson Madan Kaushik said that the AAUY would cover all the families residing in Uttarakhand. “The scheme would cover all the families eligible for the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, all families under the Mukhyamantri Swasthaya Bima Yojana, all serving and retired State Government employees and all families not covered under any other scheme,’’ he said.
The additional secretary, medical health Yugal Kishore Pant informed that AAUY would be operated on a trust mode on the lines of 'Aarogyashree Trust' being operated in Telangana. He said that the scheme would cover 1350 types of the diseases and a cover of `5 lakh per family per year would be provided. Pant added that the process of adding private hospitals under the scheme is currently in progress.
In an important decision, the State Government has decided to compulsorily add all 2.60 lakh State Government employees under the scheme. The employees working on level I to V would have to pay a monthly premium of `100 while those in level VI would pay a premium of `200 per month. Similarly, those on level VII to XI would have to deposit a monthly premium of `300 per month and those on level XII and above would have to pay a premium of `400. Moreover, a premium of `200 per month would be charged on all pensioners under the scheme. Interestingly, there would be no capping on treatment for the State the employees in the AAUY.