Gurugram (Haryana) [India], June 27: As the Indian Association of Private Psychiatry formally urges the Central Government to include private psychiatric services under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), Positive Mind Care and Research Centre, one of North India’s leading advanced mental health facilities is lending its full voice to this critical demand. With 80–90% of mental health insurance claims at private facilities currently being rejected, the financial burden on patients and their families has reached a crisis point that can no longer be ignored.
The Cost of Care That Insurance Won’t Cover for millions of Indians living with depression, OCD, anxiety disorders, and treatment-resistant conditions, the battle is twofold: first, finding the courage to seek help and then, finding the money to pay for it. Private psychiatrists serve nearly three-fourths of all patients with mental health conditions in India, yet they remain excluded from the PM-JAY umbrella, leaving an estimated 44 lakh PM-JAY cardholders in Gujarat alone and crores more nationally without coverage for private psychiatric care.
“India’s mental health system cannot scale without bringing private providers meaningfully under PM-JAY. This is not a luxury demand; it is a policy correction that is long overdue.”
— Mr. Akhilesh Srivastava- Global Technology Leader and Co-Founder, Positive Mind Care & Research Centre
Claims are routinely denied because mental illness is absent from insurer pre-approved lists, treatments are flagged as “non-medical rehabilitation,” or because a patient’s history mentions suicidal ideation. The message this sends is chilling: the sicker you are, the less likely you are to be covered.
Why 9 of 10 mental health claims get denied?
The systemic bias in how insurers treat mental illness is no longer a quiet injustice , it is a documented, measurable failure. Conditions like severe depression, anxiety disorders, and phobias are dismissed as “soft psychiatric illnesses.” Alcohol and substance-use disorders are refused recognition as mental illnesses altogether. Patients who disclose their full history at the time of applying for insurance are hit with additional premiums or denied outright.
“I see patients every week who delay treatment by months, sometimes years because they are trying to navigate insurance rejections or simply cannot afford private care out of pocket. Depression, if left untreated, doesn’t stay mild. It becomes severe. It becomes suicidal. The irony is that the very mention of suicidal ideation in a patient’s history becomes grounds for claim rejection. We are penalising people for having a serious illness.”
— Dr. Rahul Yadav, M.D. Psychiatry
The result: patients go without treatment, families bear catastrophic financial pressure, and India’s mental health burden already among the highest in the world quietly deepens.
Treatment Exists. Access Shouldn’t Be the Barrier.
Positive Mind Care and Research Centre, headquartered in Gurugram, is among the few facilities in India offering cutting-edge, evidence-based interventions for even the most complex mental health conditions:
- Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Deep TMS) — a non-invasive, clinically proven treatment for treatment-resistant depression, OCD, and anxiety
- Psychiatry OPD with senior specialists
- Psychotherapy and Counselling across evidence-based modalities
- Rehabilitation and Recovery Programs
“We have built world-class technology and infrastructure to treat the most complex mental health conditions including Deep TMS, which is transforming outcomes for patients who have failed multiple lines of medication. But when a patient walks in and their insurer refuses to recognise their condition as a legitimate illness, we are not just failing them financially ,we are telling them their suffering doesn’t count.”
— Mr. Akhilesh Srivastava, Co-Founder- Positive Mind Care & Research Centre
The centre stands firmly behind the belief that mental healthcare must be accessible, not just available and supports every policy effort that dismantles the financial and social barriers patients face in seeking timely help.
Here’s What India Must Do — Right Now
Positive Mind Care urges immediate action from all stakeholders:
- The Central Government to fast-track inclusion of private psychiatric services under PM-JAY, in the spirit of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
- IRDAI to mandate standardised, non-discriminatory guidelines for mental health claim approvals across all insurers.
- Private insurers to recognise substance-use disorders, OCD, severe anxiety, phobias, and depression as legitimate, insurable conditions not second-class illnesses.
- Corporates and HR departments to proactively expand Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to cover private psychiatric care.
About Positive Mind Care and Research Centre
Positive Mind Care, is a premier mental health facility based in Gurugram, India, offering evidence-based, technology-driven treatment for a wide spectrum of mental health conditions. The centre is known for its expertise in Deep TMS therapy and is dedicated to advancing mental healthcare access, awareness, and outcomes across India.
Website: https://share.google/uHCaWAZVcJ8GkN9LE Contact: 89205 30832
“Mental health is not a privilege. Neither should treatment be.”
— Sandra Srivastava, Chief Executive Officer- Positive Mind Care
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