Jharkhand Health Insurance: 61.5 Lakh Families to Get Group Cover as State Floats Insurer Tender
Jharkhand Health Insurance is set for a major expansion, with the state floating a tender to select an insurer for coverage of 61.5 lakh families.
Jharkhand Health Insurance aims to provide group health cover to 61.5 lakh families as the state invites bids from insurance companies.
NEW DELHI, Jharkhand Health Insurance: Jharkhand government has started selecting an insurance company to provide group health insurance to people covered under Ayushman Bharat and the Mukhyamantri Abua Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. The Jharkhand State Arogya Society (JSAS) has invited online bids from eligible insurers. The tender was issued on Wednesday by the state’s Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare.
Interested companies can download the bid documents from the state e-procurement portal starting 12 November 2026. The last date for submitting bids is 30 December. The insurer that wins the contract will cover beneficiaries of both schemes under a group policy. The state has not yet said when the cover will begin or what terms will apply.
Jharkhand Health Insurance: 61.5 lakh families in the target group
The scale of the plan is large. A health department order dated 29 October 2025 puts the total target at 61,50,000 families. Of these, 28,05,753 families are covered under Ayushman Bharat–Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Yojana, identified through the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census. A further 33,44,247 families are to be added through the National Food Security Act and the Jharkhand State Food Security Scheme. Together, these two groups make up the full target.
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The two schemes offer different levels of protection. Ayushman Bharat gives eligible families cashless treatment of up to ₹5 lakh a year. The state-run Abua Swasthya Suraksha Yojana was designed for families left out of the central scheme, and it raises the ceiling to ₹15 lakh per family per year. Both are meant to reduce the risk that a serious illness or major surgery pushes a household into debt.
Jharkhand Health Insurance: Why the state is starting the process again
The latest tender follows a health department resolution of 2 July 2024 on the health insurance scheme. The government has also recently discussed extending the scheme to Anganwadi workers and Sahiyas, the community health workers. The state is running a fresh tender after disputes arose over insurance company claims under the previous arrangement.
Disputes of this kind have a direct effect on patients. When insurers and hospitals disagree over claims or are slow to pay, private hospitals can become reluctant to admit patients under the scheme, and that has happened in several Indian states. Whether Jharkhand’s new tender fixes this will depend on its terms, particularly how claims are settled and what obligations the chosen insurer must meet. Those details will only be clear once the bid documents are read in full.
