Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on Monday, June 8, 2026, announced that West Bengal has joined the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) framework after the Government of West Bengal and the National Health Authority (NHA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding, marking a significant expansion of the world's largest government-funded health assurance scheme.

Context

Announcing the development on X, Nadda wrote that 'a new chapter in healthcare delivery begins in West Bengal' with the MoU, describing it as 'a transformative step towards ensuring comprehensive healthcare access for millions of families.' He added that approximately 1.43 crore families in the state would now be eligible to benefit from the scheme.

A key feature highlighted by the minister is the portability provision of PM-JAY, which allows beneficiaries to avail cashless treatment at any empanelled hospital across the country — a benefit he specifically noted for migrant workers from West Bengal living or working in other states.

Policy Backdrop

Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY was launched nationally in September 2018 under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a flagship health coverage scheme targeting economically vulnerable families, providing coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.

The National Health Authority, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is responsible for implementing and regulating PM-JAY across states. West Bengal had previously operated its own state-run Swasthya Sathi health scheme, making its integration with the central programme a notable convergence in India's public health architecture.

The development continues a broader push by the central government to bring all states under the unified PM-JAY framework, reducing fragmentation in public health delivery and enabling seamless inter-state portability — a gap that had long affected internal migrants seeking cashless care away from their home states.

Stakeholders and Impact

The most immediate beneficiaries are the estimated 1.43 crore families in West Bengal who will gain access to cashless hospitalisation under the scheme. For migrant workers from the state — a significant population employed in industries and construction sites across Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, and other states — the portability feature removes a critical barrier to accessing quality care far from home.

Hospitals empanelled under PM-JAY across the country will be obligated to extend cashless services to West Bengal beneficiaries, expanding the effective healthcare network available to the state's residents well beyond its own borders. The NHA will oversee the integration and empanelment processes in the state in the months ahead.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the pace of hospital empanelment in West Bengal and the mechanisms through which the state's existing Swasthya Sathi infrastructure will be aligned or integrated with the national PM-JAY platform. The scale of outreach to eligible families — particularly in rural districts and among migrant communities — will determine how quickly the announced coverage translates into on-ground access.

If implementation proceeds on track, West Bengal's inclusion could set a template for other states that have maintained parallel health schemes, reinforcing the central government's long-term goal of a unified, portable national health coverage system for every citizen.