IRDAIhas directed insurers to create Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs, the 14-digit unique identifiers to be issued to all citizens, for both new insurance seekers and existing policyholders.
The unique ID enables citizens to authenticate, access, and manage their health records digitally and facilitates hospital and doctor appointments, helping patients avoid long queues for registration at healthcare facilities. The ID is part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) being implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA). While NHA has created 402.6 million ABHA IDs so far, the target is to cover all Indians.
Since 2022, the IRDAIand NHA have been trying to expedite ABHA ID creation, and as part of the discussions, they have explored accelerating insurance claim processing by adopting the ABDM framework. “ABDM is working on developing the necessary information to support an integrated digital health system in the country. Digitization will help bridge the gap among different stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem, of which the insurance industry is a significant part. It would be beneficial for insurers to capture the ABHA number of proposers if already existing or help create one for them after obtaining their consent,” Yegnapriya Bharath, chief general manager (health) at IRDAI, said in a letter to all insurers.
