Parliamentary panel backs Assam's AB-PMJAY model as "highly pragmatic, replicable": CM Sarma

Guwahati (Assam) [India], August 14 (ANI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has described the state's model of allowing public hospitals to retain and reinvest AB-PMJAY reimbursements in infrastructure, medical equipment and patient welfare as a "highly pragmatic and replicable model."
Sarma said the committee has also recommended that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issue standard operating procedures (SOPs) to enable public hospitals across the country to adopt the approach.
In an X post, the Assam Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the committee's chairman and its members for recognising the state's efforts.

I am pleased to learn that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health & Family Welfare has described Assam’s model of allowing public hospitals to retain and reinvest AB-PMJAY reimbursements in infrastructure, medical equipment and patient welfare as a “highly pragmatic and… pic.twitter.com/YYNe6GQBYV

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 13, 2026

"I am pleased to learn that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health & Family Welfare has described Assam's model of allowing public hospitals to retain and reinvest AB-PMJAY reimbursements in infrastructure, medical equipment and patient welfare as a "highly pragmatic and replicable model", he said.
"The Committee has also recommended that @MoHFW_INDIA issue SOPs to enable public hospitals across the country to adopt this approach. My sincere gratitude to Hon'ble Chairman Shri @proframgopalya1 Ji and the esteemed members of the Committee for recognising Assam's efforts", he added.
"It is a matter of great pride that an initiative from Assam has been recognised as a model worthy of wider adoption," Sarma said.
The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a flagship health assurance scheme of the Government of India aimed at providing financial protection to economically vulnerable families for hospitalisation and medical treatment.
Under the scheme, eligible beneficiaries are provided health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation at empanelled government and private hospitals.
The scheme provides cashless and paperless access to healthcare services for covered treatments. It was launched in 2018 as part of the Ayushman Bharat initiative.
The scheme is particularly aimed at reducing the financial burden of major medical expenses on poor and vulnerable households. (ANI)