"Beneficiary cards” issued under Ayushman Bharat will now be co-branded with state logos along with names of state-specific health schemes in order to bring greater integrity and uniformity, the Union Health Ministry informed on Wednesday. State scheme names along with Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) will be included on the cards.

The co-branding was envisaged with the purpose of maintaining uniformity across the PM-JAY ecosystem while allowing for state specific customisations, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

"The authority will provide full financial support for the issuance of co-branded cards to beneficiaries under the central scheme as well as the state scheme." the Ministry said, adding, "A standardised co-branded card design has been developed which 'allot equal space' to both AB PM-JAY and state-specific logos."

Majority states & UTs adopted the guidelines on co-branding

The National Health Authority (NHA) is constantly engaging with states to issue co-branded cards and the majority of the states and Union Territories have adopted the guidelines on co-branding, read the statement. 

According to news agency PTI, barring Delhi, West Bengal, and Odisha, all other states and Union Territories in the country have agreed to co-brand the cards with state logos and names of state-specific health schemes. Reportedly, the cards will be bilingual i.e. both English and the local language will be included in the cards.

What is Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY?

Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY provides health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per eligible beneficiary family annually for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisations. The scheme covers 1,949 treatment procedures across 27 specialties in the country. 

According to the Socio-economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2011, nearly 10.74 crore beneficiary families have been selected under AB PM-JAY. According to news agency ANI, as of August 17, approximately 18.81 crore individuals have been verified under the scheme, of which 14.12 crore have been issued Ayushman cards.