From Swasthya Sathi to Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Bengal’s health department officials are holding discussions with central agencies and administrators in other states to understand how to implement the social health schemes following the change of guard.
State health department officials recently met representatives of the National Health Authority (NHA) and other state governments on the rollout of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Bengal after the BJP government formally takes charge on Saturday.
“We have held discussions with the NHA authorities as we are trying to understand how to implement Ayushman Bharat,” a senior state official said on Friday.
On December 30, 2016, Mamata Banerjee introduced Swasthya Sathi, a state-sponsored cashless group health insurance scheme. It provides health coverage up to ₹5 lakh a year per family for secondary and tertiary care, with the state government bearing the premium. In March 2026, Bengal’s then minister of state for health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, said the scheme had covered more than 8.70 crore beneficiaries till February 2025.
Ayushman Bharat, launched in 2018, is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship public health initiative aimed at achieving universal health coverage.
It offers cashless insurance of ₹5 lakh per family per year for economically weaker sections for hospitalisation at empanelled public and private hospitals. Eligibility includes specific rural and urban criteria, along with all citizens aged 70 and above, regardless of income.
“We are also discussing with states like Odisha. There, the state government had launched a social healthcare scheme and later Ayushman Bharat was introduced. We want to know how they integrated the beneficiaries,” said an official.
“The Ayushman Bharat scheme has a better software system compared to Swasthya Sathi. The checks and balances against fraud are also better,” the official said.
He added that migrant workers from Bengal with Swasthya Sathi cards cannot avail benefits outside the state. “This will not happen in the case of Ayushman Bharat, which is applicable nationwide,” he said.
Modi had announced on May 4, after the BJP’s victory in Bengal, that Ayushman Bharat would be introduced in the state. “In the first cabinet meeting itself, the Ayushman Bharat Yojana will be given a green light,” he had said.
The scheme is expected to cover over 1.24 crore economically backward people and 15.9 lakh citizens aged 70 and above in Bengal. Another 3 lakh ASHA and Anganwadi workers will also be covered, according to NHA data.
Many private hospitals have already begun refusing Swasthya Sathi cases, apprehending non-reimbursement of costs.
Officials of some private hospitals said integrating the two schemes could be difficult.
“Swasthya Sathi is a universal scheme with no restrictions on age or economic background. But Ayushman Bharat has eligibility criteria. So, it will be a challenge to integrate the schemes,” said the CEO of a private hospital. “If Swasthya Sathi is discontinued, many would be denied free insurance,” he said.
“We are ready to accept Ayushman Bharat once the state government formally launches it here. We will support the new government in all social schemes,” said Rupak Barua, president of the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India.
