Ayushman Bharat scheme will be game changer: Dr Bhushan

With more treatment options available to the poor through the scheme, there is a rise in competition among private players in health sector, says Dr Bhushan

The 17th edition of the ISB Leadership summit (ILS)-2019 opened at the Indian School of Business campus in Mohali on Friday.

Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO, Ayushman Bharat — PM Jan Arogya Yojana(HT PHOTO)

The two-day summit, which is the annual flagship event of ISB’s Graduate Student Association, is themed around,“The Leading Edge: Ideas to Impact” – with the vision to celebrate individuals who have expanded the edges of yesterday through their transformative actions, to pave the way forward for generations to follow.

While speaking on ‘Wealthier nation through healthier citizens’ at the ISB Leadership Summit 2019 on Friday, Dr Indu Bhushan, chief executive officer (CEO), Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) and the National Health Authority (NHA), Government of India, said Ayushman Bharat scheme will be a game changer in the history of India as it will help rural areas with the best treatment.

“If we implement it well, it will change the picture of the health sector and the healthcare ecosystem in the country,” he said.

He said there were three fundamental issues, including inequitable expenditure on healthcare, inefficiency in the healthcare ecosystem and the amount of designated expenditure, that had taken a centre-stage in the present time. Helping audience take a closer look into the private sector, he said the sector could play an important role in improving the effectiveness, in terms of outreach and resource allocation, of the public sector.

“Through this scheme, poor people are getting their treatment from private hospitals, which was not the case before the scheme was launched. Earlier, the treatment was beyond the reach of the poor and even the middle class families were reluctant to get the treatment due to the cost factor,” said Dr Bhushan.

He further said with more treatment options available to the poor through the scheme, there was a rise in the competition in health among the private players, and in employment generation as well.

Drawing inferences from the social science data, Dr Bhushan said, “We were exposed to different dynamic relationships that exist between the drivers of health and their implications in terms of productivity, economic progress and education.”

Talking about the impact of the AB – PMJAY with more than 10.2 crore beneficiaries verified and 9 treatments administered every minute, he said the scheme was just one-year-old and the department will soon revise the package rates as per the feedback received from the market they were operating in.

The talk drew engaging comments and questions from the students and audience with everyone wanting to know more about what we can do for the pressing concern.