Patna: Health minister Mangal Pandey launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyaan, also known as Ayushman Bharat scheme, at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Monday.

Under the scheme, poor patients can avail 1,350 types of treatment and diagnostic procedures at the hospital, which goes up to Rs 5 lakh, at free of cost at the hospitals empanelled under the scheme. Both government and private hospitals are supposed to be empanelled under the scheme.

After launch of the programme at PMCH, 10 beneficiaries of the scheme were provided cards.

Pandey while launching the Centre's ambitious scheme at PMCH said it was launched on a pilot basis at the premier hospital so that all the lacunas of this technology-oriented programme could be addressed before its official launching in the state on September 25 and beneficiaries could avail the benefits without a glitch.

Apart from PMCH, the scheme was also launched at six other government medical colleges in Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur among others, 24 sadar hospitals and Chhapra-based community health centre on Monday.

According to health department sources, the scheme would be launched in all government hospitals, community health centres and some private hospitals (which would be empanelled under the scheme) on September 25. Around 5.85 crore people are supposed to be beneficiaries of the scheme.

The health minister said the scheme would be run on a trust mode in the state while informing that other states had launched it on an insurance mode.

"We have decided to run the scheme on trust mode. The other states have implemented the insurance mode in which insurance companies have to pay the treatment cost to the hospital. But on trust mode, which we are going to implement, the state would pay the treatment cost to the hospitals through the trust created by the government. The rates of all the 1,350 types of treatments and diagnostic services have been fixed by the Centre. The state-created trust would make the payment to the hospitals concerned on the approved rates only," he said.

Pandey said: "The scheme ensures beneficiaries to avail 1,350 types of treatment and diagnostic procedures which cost up to Rs 5 lakh. At present, PMCH does not have many types of cancer treatments apart from cardiac treatment facilities. Besides it also lacks many kinds of diagnostic services. So under this scheme, all the facilities would be availed at PMCH. This way the hospital would also be upgraded and many new facilities would be added to the hospital.."