If you plan to receive treatment under the Ayushman Bharat program in the form of free services, it is crucial to check the hospital's current accreditation status before visiting. The government has removed 2359 hospitals from the list of accredited institutions, and another 1200 hospitals have been suspended due to violations of the Prime Minister's Health Program (PM-JAY) rules and suspected cases of fraud.
During suspension or exclusion from the list, these hospitals will not be able to provide services under PM-JAY free of charge.
The Minister of Health of the central government, J.P. Natta, provided this information in a written response in the Lok Sabha on August 7. According to government data, strict measures are being taken against cases of rule violations, fictitious claims, and billing without authorization. Currently, 29 fraud cases have been registered, and hospitals have been fined a total of 328.49 crore rupees.
The government states that it is applying a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud and irregularities in PM-JAY. If violations are found, hospitals may face not only fines but also suspension of operations, removal from the list of accredited institutions, and, if necessary, criminal prosecution.
The National Health Authority (NHA) has increased the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) based systems to detect suspicious claims in PM-JAY. The National Anti-Fraud Unit generates automatic alerts when suspicious patterns appear, such as duplicate claims, misuse of beneficiary data, suspicious billing, and unnecessary medical procedures. According to the government, such alerts can appear within 24 hours of a claim submission, allowing suspicious requests to be checked before payment is made to the hospital.
Thanks to technological systems for combating fraud, potential losses amounting to 676.14 crore rupees have been prevented by July 31, 2026, thereby preventing the misuse of public funds through timely detection of suspicious claims.
Parallel to anti-fraud measures, the PM-JAY program is expanding. In the fiscal year 2025-26, 3.75 crore new Ayushman cards were issued, and 2.74 crore hospitalizations were approved. The central government allocated 8.43827 crore rupees to the states to cover PM-JAY expenses. As of August 8, 2026, the total number of hospitals associated with the NHA reached 38,437, including 20,363 government and 18,074 private institutions.
Uttar Pradesh registered the highest number of approved hospitalizations—30.6 lakh. For this state, 1.04753 crore rupees was allocated from the central government, indicating the wide use of the PM-JAY program in Uttar Pradesh.
Under the Ayushman Bharat-PM-JAY program, eligible families receive annual free medical coverage up to 5 lakh in accredited hospitals. The program includes over 1900 medical procedures, and states are allowed to add additional procedures for their beneficiaries.
