What is the difference between the Ayushman Card and the Abha Health ID card? Know its benefits

The Ayushman card covers hospitalization expenses during a specific period, while the ABHA card does not provide any coverage for expenses but instead maintains and updates health information in digital format.

The Ayushman Bharat Health Account Card (ABHA Card) and the Ayushman Bharat Card are both different. But the names of both are so similar that people are unable to differentiate between them. Therefore, today we will tell you about the difference between the two cards, but first let us know about these two cards and their benefits.

Ayushman Bharat Card

Ayushman Bharat Card, also known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) Card, was launched by the Central Government in 2018. The purpose of this health card is to provide affordable healthcare services to individuals holding Ayushman Card. That is, Ayushman Health Card provides financial security for health care expenses. Ayushman Health Card provides beneficiaries access to healthcare services worth Rs 5,00,000 every year in both public and private hospitals across the country. The special thing is that Ayushman Health Card also covers pre-existing diseases.

Benefits of Ayushman Bharat Card

• No matter how many members there are in the family, everyone will be covered through this.
• Financial coverage will be available for hospitalization expenses up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year.
• Cashless treatment facility will be available in both listed public and private hospitals across the country.
• Expenses for 3 days before hospitalization and 15 days after hospitalization are covered.

ABHA Health ID Card

The government introduced ABHA Health ID cards in 2021. This card contains a unique digital health identification number which contains complete health information of the person. The purpose of this health ID card is to establish a comprehensive digital health record for every Indian citizen. This card acts as an accessible digital health account for people across the country. This card contains complete information about your health and medical history.

Through the ABHA card, the government aims to provide a unique digital health ID and health dossier number to all citizens of the country, so that their digital health records can be maintained. The aim is to increase efficiency and accountability within the health care system by issuing this ID to every Indian citizen. This digital health ID will be available to all members of the family, which will help healthcare providers to provide evidence-based treatment. Your real-time health data will be available, which will help a lot in treatment.

Apart from this, the digital health ID will be integrated with web and mobile-based telemedicine facilities for remote healthcare services. Recently, Google said in a blog post that ABHA ID cards will be available on Google Wallet from next year (2025). Even after getting ABHA CARD, a person can become a member of Ayushman Bharat Yojana.

Difference between Abha Health ID Card and Ayushman Card

1. The purpose of Ayushman Bharat card is to provide cost effective healthcare services at the time of need and provide financial security during critical and emergency situations. ABHA card works as a digital identification number. That is, Ayushman is a health insurance card and ABHA is a digital health account card.

2. Ayushman card covers hospitalization expenses during a specific period, whereas ABHA card does not provide any coverage for expenses but rather maintains and updates health information in digital format.

3. Ayushman card is made for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the country. On the other hand, ABHA card is available to everyone, regardless of their economic status.

4. The ABHA card stores and manages healthcare data using healthcare terminology related to a person's medical history. In contrast, the Ayushman Bharat card does not have similar data functionality.