The Chandigarh administration has extended the nationwide AB-PMJAY scheme to include all individuals aged 70 and above, offering broader healthcare coverage and free treatment options for eligible families across India.
For eligible households in Chandigarh, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, or AB-PMJAY, can make a major difference at the moment a hospital bill would otherwise be hardest to bear. According to the scheme guidance, it offers cashless cover of up to ₹5 lakh a family each year for covered secondary and tertiary care, including day-care treatment in empanelled hospitals across India.
The programme is not a separate Chandigarh scheme but the local implementation of the national AB-PMJAY framework. The original beneficiary base was drawn from the Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011, and the Chandigarh administration later widened access to families covered under the National Food Security Act. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also expanded the scheme in March 2024 to include ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, Anganwadi helpers and their families.
A further expansion took effect in October 2024, when the government extended AB-PMJAY to all people aged 70 and above, regardless of income or social status. Under that move, eligible seniors receive an Ayushman Vay Vandana Card. Where a family is already covered, an eligible person aged 70 or above can receive an additional ₹5 lakh top-up for their own treatment. People enrolled in CGHS, ECHS or the Ayushman CAPF scheme must choose between their existing cover and AB-PMJAY, while those with private insurance or ESIC cover can use AB-PMJAY as well.
The scheme’s benefit structure is broad. Haryana government FAQs say covered care can include consultations, medicines, pre-hospitalisation expenses, diagnostic tests, implants, room charges, food, intensive and non-intensive care, complications during treatment and follow-up for up to 15 days after discharge. The wider network of public and private empanelled hospitals, combined with portability across India, means beneficiaries are not limited to treatment only in Chandigarh.
Even so, residence in Chandigarh does not automatically confer entitlement. Eligibility depends on the government database or beneficiary category that applies to the individual or family, so checking status through the official beneficiary portal remains essential before relying on the scheme for treatment.
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