New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship healthcare scheme 'Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)' has now more that one million verified beneficiaries since its inception.

"We've crossed the 1 million mark for verified beneficiaries! More than 10,00,000 Ayushman Bharat beneficiary e-cards have been generated. Removing fear of hospital bills and instilling confidence in the poor to fearlessly seek healthcare," Indu Bhushan, chief executive officer of the Ayushman Bharat, on Wednesday tweeted.

Launched by PM Modi from Ranchi, Jharkhand in September 23, the scheme, targets more than 50 crore people providing a cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation through a network of Empanelled Health Care Providers (EHCP).

"Today more than 64,000 Ayushman Bharat beneficiary e-cards were generated, bringing the total to 10.22 lakh e-cards so far, and 7,100 hospital admissions across the country bringing the total to 3.72 lakh since the launch," he added.

Ayushman Bharat has two components -- creation of 150,000 health and wellness centres which will provide Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) and the PMJAY which provides health protection cover to poor and vulnerable families for secondary and tertiary care.

Pilot launch of the scheme has already been done in around 22 states and Union Territories. About 30 states and Union Territories have signed an MoU and started working on implementing the mission.