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JAY Ho: Ayushman Bharat's Jan Arogya Yojana (JAY) and Health Outcomes 303
9.38 On comparing health outcomes in West Bengal, which did not adopt PM-JAY with outcomes
in the three neighbouring states – Bihar, Sikkim and Assam – some important differences emerge.
Although the four states are not very different in terms of their demographics and household
characteristics, the difference in improvements of certain maternal and child related health
outcomes has been higher in states with PM-JAY. This can be attributed to the impact of PM-
JAY which was implemented in 2018. People with some health insurance jumped by 89 per cent
from 2015-16 to 2019-20 in the neighbouring states while this proportion declined by 1 per cent
in West Bengal in the same period. Infant mortality rate and under-5 mortality rates witnessed
sharper declines in the neighbouring states that implemented PM-JAY than in West Bengal that
did not implement it. Positive developments on the usage of family planning methods used were
also higher for these states. Unmet needs of family planning services declined sharply in Bihar,
Assam and Sikkim indicating effective delivery of primary care under PM-JAY.
9.39 Differences were also observed in delivery of healthcare services. While the share of
population who were made aware about family planning options and side effects increased in all
four states, the improvements were higher for the three states under PM-JAY. Utilisation of public
health care infrastructure for caesarean deliveries was also higher in these states indicating a
higher section of population that now accessed these services. These three states also witnessed
significantly higher improvements in child vaccination and vitamin supplementation, treatment
of childhood diseases like diarrhoea, as well as awareness about HIV/AIDS especially among
female adults. We thus infer than PM-JAY is likely to have led to greater health awareness,
better delivery of healthcare services and improved maternal and child care outcomes.
Comparing all States that adopted PM-JAY versus those that did not
9.40 Having examined the impact of the PM-JAY on the health outcomes across the
geographically adjacent states in the last section we now undertake this comparison for all states
by distinguishing between those states that implemented PM-JAY versus those that did not.
9.41 An analysis of the population and household profiles across NFHS 4 and NFHS 5 suggests
that the improvement in the various characteristics were similar in the states that implemented
PM-JAY vis-à-vis states that did not (Figure 16).
Figure 16: Population and Household Profile: All States
Source: National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5