NHA to extend Health Insurance Under Ayushman Bharat for Gig Workers

The National Health Agency (NHA) plans to extend health insurance coverage under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPM-JAY) for gig workers and other groups with monthly incomes of Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000, officials said.

At a recent meeting, NHA board members emphasized the need to extend health insurance coverage to gig economy workers, who often face financial devastation due to unstable incomes and high hospital bills. 

ABPM-JAY was launched in September 2018 and covers around 500 million beneficiaries according to the Socio-Economic Case Census database. However, states implementing the program have further expanded the number of beneficiaries to 140 million households, covering about 700 million. This leaves about 400 million Indians, or so-called missing middlemen, without financial protection for their health needs.

According to a NITI Aayog report, almost 7-% of the population in India is now estimated to be protected by some health insurance schemes, along with that run by state governments, social insurance schemes, and private insurance plans.

Many organizations have collaborators and partners along with regular employees. For example, an Indian Fast-moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company has about 150,000 sellers and distributors in the missing middle segment and may be covered by health insurance in collaboration with NHA.