Quick answer. To find an Ayushman Bharat PMJAY empanelled hospital near you, open hospitals.pmjay.gov.in → select State → District → Speciality (Cardiology, Oncology, Orthopaedics, etc.) → Hospital Type (Public / Private / Both). You will see name, address, contact number, empanelled specialities and NABH grade. The same data is on the Mera PMJAY mobile app (Google Play / App Store) and on the PMJAY helpline 14555 (24×7, multilingual). Always call the hospital before going — empanelled does not always mean cashless is active that week (payment delays can pause it). Cover is up to ₹5 lakh per family per year across 1,949+ procedures under HBP 2.2 at 27,000+ hospitals nationwide. If a hospital refuses cashless despite being on the list, escalate to the State Health Authority (SHA), then file an RTI to the SHA / NHA — see the linked RTI template at the bottom of this guide.
Rajesh Kumar, 48, autorickshaw driver, Aliganj, Lucknow. Family of four. Wife Sunita, 44, diagnosed with 90% blockage in left anterior descending artery — needed angioplasty. PMJAY card already issued (family on SECC 2011 deprivation list).
“The cardiologist at the government district hospital said angioplasty would happen but the wait was three weeks because their cath lab was overbooked. He told me to use my Ayushman card at any private hospital. I am a Class-VIII pass — I did not know how. My nephew opened hospitals.pmjay.gov.in on his phone and put State = Uttar Pradesh, District = Lucknow, Speciality = Cardiology. We got eighteen hospitals. We started calling from the top. First hospital said 'PMJAY suspended this week, payment from government pending — please pay cash and claim later.' Second said the same. Third said only emergency cases under PMJAY, not planned angioplasty. Fourth was Apollomedics Lucknow — they said cashless is on, please come tomorrow morning with the card and Aadhaar. Pre-authorisation came from SHA-UP in 36 hours. Procedure was done on the fifth day from diagnosis. Package code was C001 (PTCA single stent). Total billed ₹1,18,400 — I paid zero. I learnt one rule: empanelled is not the same as cashless-active today. Always call. Helpline 14555 also helped — they confirmed Apollomedics was active when I rang to double-check.”
—Rajesh, March 2026
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), launched in September 2018 by the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ayushman Bharat Mission, is the world's largest publicly funded health assurance scheme. As of early 2026, 35+ crore Ayushman Bharat cards have been issued and over 8.7 crore hospital admissions authorised. About 27,000 empanelled hospitals (roughly 45% public, 55% private) deliver care across 1,949 treatment packages under the revised Health Benefit Package 2.2 (HBP 2.2, 2024 revision).
The cover is ₹5 lakh per family per year, on a family-floater basis, with no cap on family size and no upper age limit. It is fully cashless and paperless at the point of care — a beneficiary simply walks in with the Ayushman card (or Aadhaar / ration card / SECC reference for verification) and the hospital raises a pre-authorisation with the State Health Authority (SHA).
PMJAY covers secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation — surgical and medical procedures that require admission. Outpatient consultation, OPD medicines, fertility treatment, organ transplant (initially excluded; now partially covered for cornea/kidney in many states) and cosmetic surgery are generally not covered.
A hospital is “empanelled” when it has signed an MoU with the SHA of the state, agreed to the HBP 2.2 package rates (which are typically 30-50% below private market rates), been graded by NHA's Hospital Empanelment Module (HEM) and assigned specialities it can treat under PMJAY (a hospital may be empanelled for cardiology but not for oncology). Empanelment does not mean every procedure at that hospital is covered — only the listed specialities and HBP codes.
HBP 2.2 (2024) revised the package master to add new procedures (e.g., advanced oncology like CAR-T not yet, but updated chemotherapy regimens, knee replacement, additional cardiac and neuro packages). Each procedure has a unique alphanumeric code:
The package rate is all-inclusive — bed charges, surgeon's fee, medicines, implants, post-op stay (3-5 days standard), and one follow-up are bundled. The hospital cannot ask for any additional payment from the beneficiary (any “deposit” is a violation of the empanelment MoU).
Each state runs PMJAY through its SHA, and many states have a parallel state scheme that piggy-backs on the PMJAY infrastructure (so the same empanelled list is reused, often with a higher state cover):
Always check both the central PMJAY portal and your state SHA portal — sometimes a hospital is empanelled under the state scheme but flagged separately from PMJAY central.
Before searching, make sure your family is on the PMJAY beneficiary list. Two ways:
If eligible but no card yet, generate the Ayushman card at any Common Service Centre (CSC), Ayushman Mitra desk in an empanelled hospital, or via the Ayushman App (different from Mera PMJAY — this one is for card creation).
Choose your state → district → the speciality you actually need (don't pick “All” — it returns 80+ hospitals and is unhelpful). The 22 PMJAY specialities include:
Cardiology, Cardio-thoracic & Vascular Surgery, Oncology (Medical/Surgical/Radiation), Orthopaedics, General Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Urology, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Burns Management, Mental Disorders, Plastic Surgery, Polytrauma, and more.
If you already know the procedure name (your treating doctor will tell you), search the HBP master to find the code. The full HBP 2.2 master is downloadable as Excel from pmjay.gov.in → Resources → Health Benefit Packages. The package rate next to the code tells you what PMJAY will pay the hospital — useful so you know in advance the implant grade / room type included.
Many cashless-active private hospitals are graded NABH Pre-Accreditation or NABH Accredited (visible on the portal). NABH grade affects the package rate — a higher grade hospital gets 10-15% more under PMJAY. From a beneficiary's view it is a quality signal.
This is the single most important step. Ring the hospital's PMJAY help desk (every empanelled hospital must have one — ask for “Ayushman Mitra” or “PMJAY desk”). Confirm:
One follow-up consultation is included in the package. Diagnostic tests during follow-up may not be covered — check with hospital. If your case needs a second hospitalisation later (e.g., recurrence), a fresh pre-authorisation is needed; the cover keeps refreshing up to ₹5 lakh per family per policy year.
+------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Family cover | ₹5,00,000 / family / year (floater) | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Family size cap | None (everyone in SECC 2011 family is | | | covered, plus state-added families) | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Age cap | None — newborn to elder | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Pre-existing diseases | Covered from Day 1 | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Procedures covered (HBP 2.2) | 1,949+ across 22 specialities | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Empanelled hospitals | ~27,000 (public + private + NGO) | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Co-payment by patient | ZERO (cashless, paperless at PoC) | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Pre-authorisation SLA | Emergency = 6 hrs, Planned = 24-48 hrs | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Hospital claim payment by SHA | 15-30 days from claim submission | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | OPD / outpatient | NOT covered (admission required) | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Card cost | FREE — never pay anyone for the card | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Helpline | 14555 (24x7, multilingual) | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | RTI fee (NHA / SHA) | ₹10 by IPO; BPL = free | +------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
The first point. Every empanelled hospital must have one. Ask for the desk in-charge by name; get a written acknowledgement of your complaint.
24×7, free, multilingual. They open a beneficiary grievance ticket with the SHA. Note your complaint reference number.
Every SHA has an online complaint portal — links from hospitals.pmjay.gov.in → “Grievance”. Submit with hospital name, date of admission attempt, exact reason for refusal. SLA: 15 days.
Each district has a DIU under the SHA, headed by a District Programme Coordinator (DPC). Walk-in or written complaint to DIU usually triggers a hospital-level inspection within a week.
The NHA in New Delhi and every State SHA are public authorities under §2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005.
RTI helps here when:
For a full copy-ready template covering claim denial / cashless refusal cases, see the dedicated guide: RTI for Ayushman Bharat claim denial — copy-ready template.
RTI does NOT help here when:
Q. My PMJAY card was issued in Lucknow. Can I use it for treatment in Mumbai?
Yes. PMJAY is portable nationwide. Any empanelled hospital in any state will accept it. The Ayushman Mitra at the destination hospital will verify your details on the central TMS portal — Aadhaar OTP is enough.
Q. Is OPD consultation covered under PMJAY?
No. PMJAY covers only inpatient hospitalisation (secondary and tertiary). For OPD, look at primary health centres, Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs, ~1.7 lakh nationwide) or your state's free OPD scheme.
Q. Are diagnostic tests covered?
Pre-admission tests up to 3 days before admission and follow-up tests up to 15 days after discharge for the same hospitalisation are bundled into the package rate. Standalone diagnostics on OPD basis are not covered.
Q. The hospital is empanelled but says cashless is “off this week”. What do I do?
This usually means the SHA has stopped reimbursing that hospital for some reason (audit query, billing dispute). Three options: (a) call 14555 to confirm the official status; (b) try another empanelled hospital in your district; © if it's an emergency, get admitted, document the refusal in writing, file a complaint to SHA + RTI for the suspension notice.
Q. My family is not on the SECC 2011 list. Am I excluded forever?
No. Many states have expanded eligibility beyond SECC 2011 — for example, all ration card holders in Rajasthan, all citizens up to a threshold in Haryana under “Chirayu”, etc. Check your state SHA portal. Also, the central PMJAY recently extended cover to all senior citizens above 70, regardless of SECC inclusion.
Q. My PMJAY card is showing wrong details. How to correct?
Visit any CSC or empanelled hospital's Ayushman Mitra desk with original Aadhaar and the corrected detail (name spelling, photo). Re-issue is free.
Q. Is there a cap on the cost of one procedure?
The cost is capped at the HBP package rate for that procedure (e.g., angioplasty single stent ~₹40k-₹80k depending on hospital grade). Multiple procedures can be billed up to the family annual limit of ₹5 lakh.
Last reviewed: 26 April 2026 by RTI Wiki editorial team. PMJAY Health Benefit Packages (HBP) and SHA-level empanelment lists change continuously — verify the latest on hospitals.pmjay.gov.in and your State SHA portal, or write to admin@bighelpers.in if you spot a stale figure.