Taking inspiration from the Centre's 'Ayushmaan Bharat' scheme, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the 'Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana' on Tuesday, making the hill state first in the country to offer universal health coverage. Under the scheme, each household in the state will be able to avail medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh annually. The government did not want anyone in the state to be unable to afford medical treatment, so all the households have been included under the scheme, Rawat said.

The scheme will benefit 23 lakh households and will cover 1,350 critical diseases, he said. A total of 99 government and 66 private hospitals have been selected under the scheme, he added. While distributing scheme-related "golden cards" to beneficiaries, Rawat signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) with private hospitals and announced that soon free of cost OPD facilities will be available for children and elderly people in the state.

The chief minister also announced that the state's dedicated air ambulance service will be operational from 26 January. Rawat also launched the mobile application and website for 'Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana'. He said the government was following the teachings of ancient Hindu texts and working for the wellbeing of all. He claimed, telemedicine and teleradiology facilities have been made available in remote areas of the state by the government.