The story of India’s universal health coverage - Ayushman Bharat

Описание: Ayushman Bharat was created to protect over 50 crore Indians from catastrophic medical expenses.
But behind the scenes, politics nearly destroyed the scheme.

In this podcast, the founding CEO of Ayushman Bharat Indu Bhushan reveals:
Why two BJP states said no
Why West Bengal quit after agreeing
How Modi personally intervened
Why states rejected ₹800 crore funding
How elections influenced health policy
The real political cost of Ayushman Bharat

Timestamps:
00:00 Teaser
01:10 Guest intro
05:40 Childhood, IAS dreams & early career
09:20 UNICEF project & Guinea Worm eradication
14:30 Why he left mainstream IAS roles
18:20 Decision to study health abroad
22:50 World Bank → Asian Development Bank journey
26:40 PMO calls: “Come to Delhi tomorrow”
30:10 Brief from PMO & sudden return to India
33:20 What is Ayushman Bharat? (vision explained)
37:10 Modi meetings & leadership style
40:00 How the scheme works (insurance + trust model)
43:50 Building the national IT platform in 6 months
47:30 Creating the core team (beg, borrow, build)
50:20 Biggest challenge: Convincing the states
53:10 Mamata Banerjee: first yes, then exit
57:00 Why Odisha & Delhi resisted
59:30 Shocking truth: BJP states that said NO
1:02:20 Rajasthan & Maharashtra resistance explained
1:05:40 Modi’s Pragati meeting & state pressure
1:08:30 Only one state still refusing today
1:10:10 Hospital rates controversy & payment delays
1:14:20 Private hospitals & tertiary care dependency
1:17:00 3 biggest learnings from Ayushman Bharat
1:19:40 AI, fraud detection & health data revolution
1:22:10 Future of Indian healthcare & closing

This is the inside story of India’s largest health mission — and the political war behind it.

Watch till the end to understand how healthcare, power, and politics collided.

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