UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Advancing Universal and Inclusive Senior Care: Ayushman Vay Vandana Marks Two Years of Transforming Healthcare for Elderly Citizens

Q1. With reference to welfare schemes that fix eligibility by a single categorical criterion such as age, instead of by assessing household deprivation, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A categorical eligibility rule lowers the risk of leaving out needy persons, because identifying beneficiaries does not depend on assessing household income or assets.
  2. Removing the means test ensures that the benefits go only to persons who cannot afford the services on their own.
  3. Deprivation-based targeting can leave out households that are not poor enough to qualify but have no health insurance either.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 only

Q2. Consider the following assertion: 'The design of Ayushman Vay Vandana accepts some inclusion error in return for a lower exclusion error.' Which of the following statements support/supports the above assertion?

  1. Eligibility depends on age alone, irrespective of income or socio-economic status.
  2. Senior citizens who already hold private health insurance policies are also eligible to avail benefits under AB PM-JAY.
  3. Enrolment happens on application through digital channels such as an app, a web portal and Common Service Centres.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Ayushman Vay Vandana does not pay for the outpatient consultations and medicines that a 75-year-old needs to manage diabetes at home.
  2. Ayushman Vay Vandana operates within AB PM-JAY, whose benefit package is designed for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. A fall in the share of out-of-pocket expenditure in total health expenditure does not by itself show that households are spending less on health in rupee terms.
  2. National Health Accounts estimates for India show that the share of out-of-pocket expenditure in total health expenditure fell between 2013-14 and 2017-18.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q5. With reference to how publicly funded health assurance provides financial protection to elderly households, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Pooling risk across a large covered population lets the cost of rare but expensive procedures, such as coronary angioplasty, be met from the pool instead of by the affected household alone.
  2. A national decline in the out-of-pocket share of total health expenditure is by itself sufficient evidence that catastrophic health spending among elderly households has fallen.
  3. Because Ayushman Vay Vandana is cashless for hospitalisation, it also directly reduces what elderly households spend on outpatient medicines for chronic diseases.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 only

Q6. Consider the following facts: Ayushman Vay Vandana, which provides cover to citizens aged 70 and above, is implemented as part of AB PM-JAY and was launched in October 2024. In April 2025, Delhi signed an MoU with the National Health Authority and became the 35th State/UT to implement AB PM-JAY. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above facts?

  1. Residents of Delhi aged 70 and above could not get Vay Vandana cover in Delhi between the launch of the scheme and Delhi's adoption of AB PM-JAY.
  2. The Union government can compel a State/UT to implement a centrally sponsored health scheme by an executive order.
  3. Before April 2025, AB PM-JAY was being implemented in every State/UT except Delhi.
  4. How far a Union health assurance scheme reaches across the country depends on whether each State/UT government decides to implement it.
  • A. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q7. With reference to the consequences of demographic ageing in India, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Within the elderly population, the oldest-old (80 years and above) is projected to be the fastest-growing segment.
  2. Because women live longer, the oldest-old group is expected to be made up largely of women, many of them widowed and dependent.
  3. As the population ages, the disease burden shifts towards chronic and degenerative conditions, raising demand for recurring treatments such as dialysis.
  • A. 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q8. With reference to the legal framework for the welfare of senior citizens in India, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The definition of 'senior citizen' in the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 binds all Union welfare schemes, so no scheme can set a higher age threshold.
  2. The 2007 Act defines a senior citizen as a citizen of India who has attained the age of sixty years or above.
  3. Under the 2007 Act, the duty to maintain a senior citizen can fall on a relative who would inherit the senior citizen's property, and not only on the senior citizen's children.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 3 only