The National Health Authority has launched the Ayushman Vay Vandana initiative for all Indians aged 70 years and above. Every eligible senior citizen will receive a distinct Vay Vandana card with cashless hospital cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year. The move removes all income limits and brings nearly six crore elderly citizens under the Ayushman Bharat safety net for the first time.
What Is Ayushman Vay Vandana Card?
The Ayushman Vay Vandana card is a distinct health card issued to every Indian citizen aged 70 years and above under the expanded Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). The card entitles the holder to cashless hospital treatment worth ₹5 lakh per family per year, with no income test and no waiting period for pre-existing diseases.
The Union Cabinet approved this expansion on 11 September 2024. The Prime Minister rolled out the card on 29 October 2024 at the All India Institute of Ayurveda in New Delhi, along with health projects worth about ₹12,850 crore. The expansion aims to cover nearly six crore senior citizens in about 4.5 crore families.
The National Health Authority (NHA) implements the initiative. NHA is an attached office of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with full functional autonomy. It was reconstituted as the National Health Authority on 2 January 2019 and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is governed by a board chaired by the Union Health Minister and headed by a Chief Executive Officer.
Enrolment is application based and remains open through the year. Aadhaar is the only document needed. Age is verified from Aadhaar, and Aadhaar based e-KYC is mandatory. Treatment starts from the first day of enrolment.
What Is Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY?
PMJAY stands for Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. It is the hospital treatment component of Ayushman Bharat, which was recommended by the National Health Policy 2017 to move India toward universal health coverage. The Prime Minister launched AB PM-JAY on 23 September 2018 at Ranchi in Jharkhand.
AB PM-JAY is the largest publicly funded health assurance scheme in the world. It provides health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. Secondary care means treatment by specialists in district level hospitals, such as general surgery or fracture repair. Tertiary care means advanced treatment in super specialty hospitals, such as heart surgery, cancer care or joint replacement.
The original scheme targeted poor and vulnerable families identified through the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 on the basis of deprivation and occupation. It subsumed the earlier Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which had started in 2008. The base pool was 10.74 crore families, or about 50 crore people. Many states have since expanded it with their own databases. The total pool has now crossed 12.34 crore families, or about 55 crore people.
AB PM-JAY is fully funded by the government. Costs are shared between the Centre and the states. The scheme is cashless and paperless at the point of service. There is no cap on family size, age or gender in eligible families. Benefits are portable across India.
Who Is Eligible for the Senior Citizen Cover?
The only test for the Vay Vandana cover is age. Any Indian citizen aged 70 years and above is eligible. The age is taken from Aadhaar. If only the birth year is recorded in Aadhaar, 1 January of the next year is taken as the date of birth. There is no income limit. Rich, middle class and poor families are equally covered.
This universal rule is different from the regular Ayushman card. The regular card is limited to families listed in SECC 2011 or state databases on economic criteria, such as living in a one room kucha house, belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe household, or doing casual manual work. The Vay Vandana card does not look at any such condition.
The scheme divides elderly beneficiaries into two groups:
- New families: These families are not covered under AB PM-JAY. Senior members aged 70 and above get a shared cover of ₹5 lakh per year on a family basis. Other younger members get no cover.
- Existing families: These families already hold AB PM-JAY cover. Senior members aged 70 and above get an additional top up of ₹5 lakh per year for themselves alone. They do not have to share it with members below 70. If the seniors use part of the original family wallet, other members still get a top up of up to ₹5 lakh.
Other insurance does not block eligibility in most cases. Seniors with private health insurance remain eligible. Members under the Employees State Insurance Scheme (ESI) also remain eligible, because employers and workers pay the premium. Seniors covered by government schemes such as the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) or the Ayushman Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) scheme must choose one option. They can continue the old scheme or shift to AB PM-JAY. The choice is one time and cannot be reversed.
How Much Cover Does the Scheme Provide?
The Vay Vandana cover is ₹5 lakh per family per year. It is meant for hospital admission, not for outpatient visits. It pays for secondary care, tertiary care and day care procedures. It also pays for pre hospitalisation tests and post hospitalisation follow up, medicines and diagnostics linked to the admission.
NHA has defined a national master of Health Benefit Packages with 1,961 procedures across 27 specialties, including general medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics, cardiology and oncology. States can adjust the list to local needs. For elderly patients, commonly used treatments include haemodialysis, acute ischemic stroke care, hip fracture repair, total hip replacement, total knee replacement, coronary angioplasty with diagnostic angiogram, single and double chamber pacemaker implants, cataract surgery, gall bladder removal and prostate resection.
All pre-existing diseases are covered from the first day. There is no waiting period. The card can be used immediately after enrolment. In the first weeks after the October 2024 rollout, more than 10 lakh seniors enrolled and treatments worth over ₹9 crore were authorised for more than 4,800 seniors. By December 2024, enrolment crossed 25 lakh and authorised treatment crossed ₹40 crore for more than 22,000 seniors.
Where Can Beneficiaries Get Treatment?
The Vay Vandana card is valid in private hospitals. It works in any hospital empanelled under AB PM-JAY, whether public or private. Empanelled means the hospital has signed an agreement with the state health agency and passed physical verification.
The network has more than 30,072 hospitals, including 13,352 private hospitals. Public hospitals with inpatient services are deemed empanelled. Private hospitals must pass checks under the Hospital Engagement Module, with photos and location details.
The card is valid all over India. A beneficiary from one state can get cashless treatment in any empanelled hospital in another state. This portability feature is central to PM-JAY. The treating hospital verifies the beneficiary and seeks pre authorisation through NHA systems. The home state approves the request and pays as per package rates.
If an empanelled hospital denies care, the beneficiary can file a complaint. AB PM-JAY runs a three tier grievance system at district, state and national levels, with nodal officers and redressal committees at each level.
Ayushman Vay Vandana Card vs Ayushman Card vs ABHA Card
Many people confuse three different cards. They serve different purposes. The table below sets out the difference.
| Feature | Ayushman Card under PM-JAY | Ayushman Vay Vandana Card | ABHA Card under Digital Mission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full form | Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana card | Vay Vandana means salute to age, a senior citizen card under PM-JAY | Ayushman Bharat Health Account, a 14 digit health ID |
| Purpose | Cashless hospital treatment | Cashless hospital treatment for the elderly | Digital storage and sharing of health records with consent, no insurance |
| Who can hold it | Members of eligible poor and vulnerable families of all ages | All citizens aged 70 and above, in any income group | Any citizen who opts in, on a voluntary basis |
| Income test | Yes, based on SECC 2011 and state lists | No income test | No income test |
| Cover | ₹5 lakh per family per year | ₹5 lakh per family per year, plus an exclusive top up of ₹5 lakh for seniors in families already covered | No cover |
| Validity | Empanelled public and private hospitals across India | Empanelled public and private hospitals across India | Used in health facilities linked to the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) |
| Pre-existing diseases | Covered from day one | Covered from day one | Not applicable |
ABDM was piloted as the National Digital Health Mission in six Union Territories in August 2020. The Prime Minister rolled it out across India on 27 September 2021. It creates registries of facilities and professionals and allows paperless records through consent. ABHA is only a record keeper. It does not pay hospital bills.
The Vay Vandana card also differs from staff schemes. The CGHS serves central government employees and pensioners. It is run by the health ministry through wellness centres and listed hospitals. A senior with CGHS, ECHS or CAPF cover must pick either that scheme or PM-JAY. A senior with private insurance or ESI can keep both covers.
Why the Cover for Those Aged 70 and Above Matters
Health costs rise sharply after 70. Heart disease, stroke, fractures, cataracts, prostate problems and kidney failure need hospital care. Private insurers often charge very high premiums at this age or refuse fresh cover. Many families pay from savings or borrow.
A free cover of ₹5 lakh lowers this burden. It pays for costly procedures such as joint replacement, angioplasty and dialysis. Since all old illnesses are covered at once, seniors do not lose time in waiting periods.
The move also widens universal health coverage. AB PM-JAY had already authorised 7.37 crore hospital admissions, with women forming about 49 percent of admissions and public benefit of more than ₹1 lakh crore. Portability alone has supported 11.9 lakh hospitalisations worth about ₹3,100 crore for migrants who sought care outside their home state. Adding all seniors above 70 brings the most vulnerable age group into the same network.
Primary care support continues through Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. These are upgraded health and wellness centres that provide screening, basic treatment and referrals. They link village level care with empanelled hospitals, so an elderly patient can move from early detection to surgery without paying at the point of care.
Key Takeaways
- The Ayushman Vay Vandana card was rolled out on 29 October 2024 after Cabinet approval on 11 September 2024 for all citizens aged 70 and above.
- The card gives cashless cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year with no income test and no waiting period for pre-existing diseases.
- The expansion targets nearly six crore seniors in about 4.5 crore families, with an extra top up of ₹5 lakh for seniors in families already covered under PM-JAY.
- AB PM-JAY was launched on 23 September 2018 at Ranchi and is implemented by the National Health Authority, set up on 2 January 2019 in New Delhi.
- The ABHA number is a voluntary 14 digit digital health ID under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission launched on 27 September 2021, and it does not provide insurance cover.
