Two new initiatives were announced in the budget speech today under the Ayushmann Bharat Program.

In his Union Budget speech, Finance Minister announced the launch of a flagship national health protection scheme that is said to cover 10 crore families with approximately 50 crore beneficiaries. This will provide up to Rs. 5 lakh will be per family per year.

This is one of the largest national healthcare programmes in the world.

He also announced the creation of 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness centers which will provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services. Rs 1,200 crores have been allocated for this.