NHA Concludes Two-Day National Review Meeting on AB PM-JAY and ABDM; Centre and States Chart Roadmap for the Next Phase of Health Reforms

📌 Summary:

• The National Health Authority (NHA), under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, concluded a two-day National Review Meeting (Chintan Shivir) on AB PM-JAY and ABDM, held 17–18 July 2026 at Madhya Pradesh Bhawan, New Delhi

• Participants: senior officials of the Health Ministry, NHA, State Health Agencies, development partners and other stakeholders — to review progress, set implementation priorities, share State best practices and chart the next phase of health-sector reform

• Day two focused on financial sustainability of the scheme, strengthening public healthcare institutions, health analytics, artificial intelligence and accelerating digital transformation

• 15 awards presented to States and UTs across key implementation indicators

• Under AB PM-JAY, six awards in two categories: Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Lakshadweep for the highest VVS Cards per lakh population (Large State, Small State, UT); Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for the highest pre-authorisations with biometric authentication

• Under ABDM, nine awards in four categories: Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Ladakh and Lakshadweep for ABDM Registry (HPR & HFR) saturation; Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh for highest health-record linking per lakh population; Uttar Pradesh for ABHA creation and adoption of Scan and Pay services

• Union Health Secretary Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava said AB PM-JAY and ABDM have emerged as key pillars of India's healthcare ecosystem, with the focus now shifting from creation to wider adoption and effective utilisation of digital health initiatives

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — Governance and Social Justice (issues relating to health, government policies and interventions, Centre-State cooperative implementation); GS3 — digital infrastructure and use of AI in public service delivery.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• NHA is the apex body implementing AB PM-JAY; it succeeded the National Health Agency and functions under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

• AB PM-JAY, launched in September 2018, provides health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation; it is fully cashless and portable across India

• ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission) was launched in September 2021; its building blocks include ABHA (health ID), the Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and the Health Facility Registry (HFR)

• Ayushman Bharat has two components — Health and Wellness Centres (now Ayushman Arogya Mandirs) and PM-JAY

• AB PM-JAY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with 60:40 Centre-State funding for most States (90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan States)

🔑 Key Term: ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) — a 14-digit unique health identifier under ABDM that allows a citizen to link, store and consent-share longitudinal digital health records across providers, enabling interoperability in the health data ecosystem.