West Bengal and the National Health Authority signed an agreement to implement Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY on June 8, 2026.
The earlier announcement described cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per eligible family each year for secondary and tertiary hospital care. This is a hospital-treatment benefit, not a cash grant of that amount to every household.
At the signing, officials highlighted portability through empanelled hospitals outside West Bengal. For an eligible migrant worker, the relevant link is therefore not only between a home address and a state health agency, but also between beneficiary identification and a participating provider where the person seeks treatment.
The ministry put the intended beneficiary base at approximately 1.43 crore families, including identified worker and older-person categories. That is the announced coverage base, not the number already admitted to hospital.
Portability reduces the importance of the state boundary in that treatment pathway. Beneficiary identification and access to an empanelled hospital remain the practical links between a family's cover and the care it receives.
