Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 23 October 2025
Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament representing the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has urged the Lt. Governor to overview and amend the present tips for affected person referral and reimbursement beneath the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
In a illustration addressed to the Lt. Governor, Mr. Ray highlighted the hardships being confronted by island sufferers in availing medical referrals and reimbursements after the discontinuation of the ANISHI (Andaman and Nicobar Islands Scheme for Health Insurance). Under ANISHI, beneficiaries had been entitled to cashless therapy as much as ₹5 lakh per particular person, which included journey and diagnostic bills. However, following its merger with the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the brand new tips issued by the State Health Agency (SHA) on June 20, 2023, have reportedly created difficulties for sufferers in assembly journey and treatment-related prices.
The MP identified that the present reimbursement construction largely limits journey protection to ship fares, regardless that ship companies to mainland locations reminiscent of Chennai, Kolkata, and Visakhapatnam are rare and irregular. This typically forces sufferers and their attendants to journey by air at their very own expense, he mentioned, including that such restrictions undermine the aim of well timed and inexpensive healthcare entry for the island inhabitants.
To deal with these issues, Mr. Ray has proposed a number of key amendments to the present tips:
- Inclusion of Both-Way Air Travel: Air journey (onward and return) ought to be acknowledged as the usual reimbursable mode of transport for referred sufferers to mainland empanelled hospitals.
- Flexibility in Ticket Purchase: Patients ought to be permitted to purchase air tickets from any licensed journey agent, moderately than being restricted to government-approved companies like Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., Ashok Travels & Tours, or IRCTC, which have restricted presence throughout the islands.
- Credit Facility for Air Tickets: Agencies reminiscent of ANIIDCO ought to be licensed to concern air tickets on credit score, as practiced beneath ANISHI, to ease the monetary burden on sufferers.
- Revision of Income Ceiling: The revenue ceiling of ₹3 lakh every year—set in 2015 beneath ANISHI—ought to be revised upward contemplating inflation and the rising price of residing, to increase advantages to extra genuinely needy non-SECC beneficiaries.
Mr. Ray emphasised that implementing these modifications would guarantee equitable entry to healthcare for economically weaker sections and facilitate well timed medical therapy for residents of the Union Territory.
Copies of his illustration have additionally been forwarded to the Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah, and Hon’ble Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Mr. J.P. Nadda, in search of their intervention and appropriate instructions to the UT Administration.
