The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the centrally-sponsored Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), that will provide a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually  to 10 crore poor and vulnerable people.  NHPM scheme is being touted as the world's largest public health insurance programme till now. NHPM will enable beneficiaries to avail of health facilities from any part of the country and will be a paperless and cashless.

As per reports, the exact date for the introduction of the scheme has not been announced, but it is expected to be done on August 15. The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the scheme .NHPM was announced in the Union Budget 2018 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Reportedly, to ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly) there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme. The benefit cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses. All pre-existing conditions will be covered from day one of the policy. Also, measures like identity validation through Aadhaar, will make NHPM easily accessible and transparent in approach.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 22, 2018 08:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).