Kolkata/New Delhi: In a major healthcare policy shift, West Bengal has officially joined the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), becoming the 36th state or Union Territory to implement the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme. The move is expected to bring nearly 1.43 crore families under the ambit of cashless health coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per year.
The agreement was formalized on Monday through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the state government and the National Health Authority (NHA) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said West Bengal’s inclusion would enable lakhs of eligible families to access the benefits of the scheme, which had remained unavailable to them since the programme’s launch in 2018.
Highlighting a significant milestone in India’s cancer care journey, Union Health Minister Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda noted at the MoU Signing Ceremony for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY in West Bengal that, according to a Lancet report, 90% of people diagnosed with… pic.twitter.com/MIZwlf4QCi
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) June 8, 2026
Highlighting the scale of the initiative, Nadda stated that beneficiaries across the country have already received medical treatment worth more than ₹1.7 lakh crore under Ayushman Bharat. He noted that the scheme, originally designed to cover 10.74 crore vulnerable families, has been expanded to include all citizens aged 70 years and above, along with ASHA and Anganwadi workers.
According to the Union Minister, the expansion is expected to bring around six crore additional people under health protection. He also pointed out that out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure in India has declined significantly, falling from 62.6 percent before 2018 to 43.4 percent, reflecting the growing impact of government-backed health insurance initiatives.
With West Bengal now on board, Ayushman Bharat is set to provide wider healthcare access and financial protection to millions of residents across the state.
