India Needs to Spend More on Healthcare Says Ex-RBI Gov
1 month, 1 week ago

India Needs to Spend More on Healthcare Says Ex-RBI Gov

Deccan Chronicle  

Mumbai: India needs to urgently increase its spending on healthcare and education for accelerating the country’s progress, former Reserve Bank of India governor C Rangarajan said on Friday. He said that India’s healthcare expenditure is currently less than 2 per cent of its GDP, and the government must urgently increase it. Speaking at the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Rangarajan said, “In India, there is a consistent discussion on raising healthcare expenditure to at least 2.8 per cent of the GDP. "Governments should increase healthcare spending, focus on establishing hospitals that offer free services, and ensure these funds are utilised efficiently.” The former chairman of the PM's Economic Advisory Council stated that education and health are crucial for accelerating the country's progress.

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History of this topic

Kerala spends highest out-of-pocket expenditure on health in India
1 month, 1 week ago

Kerala spends highest out-of-pocket expenditure on health in India

New Indian Express  

KOCHI: Increased incidence of lifestyle diseases and high cost of diagnostic tests, coupled with the disappearance of not-for-profit hospitals and people’s reluctance to opt for government medical institutions have pushed Kerala’s out-of-pocket expenses in healthcare to the highest among states, a recent survey has revealed. As per the Comprehensive Annual Modular Survey 2022-23 by the National Sample Survey Office under …

Health care: Innovations for an inclusive future
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Health care: Innovations for an inclusive future

Hindustan Times  

India's health care sector is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven not just by rising incomes, but also through a confluence of transformative factors. By fostering supportive government policies, India has the potential not only to improve health care for its citizens but also to set a global benchmark for affordable, high-quality care. Four areas need urgent attention: * Policy and regulatory …

The burden of health care on India’s poorest
4 months, 1 week ago

The burden of health care on India’s poorest

Hindustan Times  

In recent years, the Indian government has made significant strides in reducing the burden of health expenditure on the common citizen. A particular focus of the government has been to reduce the burden of severe economic shocks due to “catastrophic” health care expenditure such as hospitalisation. In order to understand the character of catastrophic health expenditure, Artha Global’s Centre for …

Rise in public health spending due to States, not Centre
7 months ago

Rise in public health spending due to States, not Centre

The Hindu  

Public spending on health in India has historically remained low. Note: Union government spending includes spending by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Min of AYUSH Furthermore, a significant part of the increase in health investment as a percentage of GDP during the pandemic needs to be attributed to the negative and low growth of GDP, while absolute increase …

Need to have more doctors, hospital beds to achieve healthcare vision 2047: Report
7 months, 1 week ago

Need to have more doctors, hospital beds to achieve healthcare vision 2047: Report

Deccan Chronicle  

New Delhi: There is a need to increase the number of qualified doctors to more than 50 lakh and also add 30 lakh more hospital beds in the country in order to achieve India's healthcare vision 2047, according to a report.The increase in the number of doctors and beds in hospitals would help India get closer to the average of …

What lies in Kejriwal's Budget?
10 months, 2 weeks ago

What lies in Kejriwal's Budget?

New Indian Express  

As the Delhi government gears up to present its budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 in February, expectations are running high among the residents. Residents are hoping for increased funding for hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities, as well as initiatives to strengthen the public healthcare system and improve access to healthcare for all sections of society. However, the department made …

Union Budget: Healthcare challenges and how the government can navigate them
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Union Budget: Healthcare challenges and how the government can navigate them

Firstpost  

The healthcare industry has always been the core of any flourishing civilisation. Modern medical challenges Public expenditure on healthcare contributes to only 1.3 per cent of GDP, resulting in compromised healthcare standards. As per some projections, AI utilisation in healthcare resource optimisation could contribute $25 billion to India’s GDP by 2025. Role of government in shaping healthcare The government must …

Union Budget: Stimulating pharma and healthcare for Amrit Kaal
11 months, 1 week ago

Union Budget: Stimulating pharma and healthcare for Amrit Kaal

Firstpost  

The Union Budget 2023-24, the first budget of Amrit Kaal, set out a vision and blueprint for an empowered and inclusive economy to lay building blocks for the coming 25 years in the journey to India@100 in 2047. Addressing tax issues about business expenditure Typically, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies incur various marketing and related costs which involve medical practitioners. Input …

Out-of-pocket health expenditure in India: Inter-state variations
1 year, 4 months ago

Out-of-pocket health expenditure in India: Inter-state variations

Hindustan Times  

Adequate public investment in health, by ensuring better affordability and availability of health care, is crucial for sustaining a resilient public health system. Chart 2 In five states, high public health spending is related to low OOPE, while in four states, low public health spending is related to high OOPE. In eight states, low public health spending is related to …

More than 90 million Indians spend ‘catastrophic’ 10-25% of household expenses on healthcare
1 year, 5 months ago

More than 90 million Indians spend ‘catastrophic’ 10-25% of household expenses on healthcare

Hindustan Times  

Healthcare expenditure of around 90 million Indians has crossed the ‘catastrophic’ levels – a state of financial condition where health spending exceeds 10% threshold of household consumption, posing a threat to maintain the subsistence needs. According to the Sustainable Development Goals National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2023, a total of 31 million people living in families spend more that a …

Health Matters | How much money is too much money for vaccines?
1 year, 5 months ago

Health Matters | How much money is too much money for vaccines?

The Hindu  

Ultimately affordability decides entitlement. There is also sufficient evidence to back the common knowledge that India has a high burden of out-of-pocket expenditure for health care, meaning payment for health services is made by the patients themselves. Back to pricing, it is also why the low-cost DNA test to detect cervical cancer within 45 minutes comes as good news, specifically …

What you can do to reduce your out-of-pocket-expenditure on healthcare
1 year, 7 months ago

What you can do to reduce your out-of-pocket-expenditure on healthcare

Live Mint  

The young advertising executive was on his way home from office when he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. First, the hospital where he was admitted said that he had to immediately pay ₹50,000 towards admission—It informed him that he was not eligible for cashless admission since the hospital was not part of the insurer’s network. While people with …

Data | India’s Cancer Crisis: Rising Prevalence of the Most Expensive Disease to Treat
1 year, 8 months ago

Data | India’s Cancer Crisis: Rising Prevalence of the Most Expensive Disease to Treat

The Hindu  

On March 14, the Minister of State for Health said cancer cases in India will cross the 15 lakh mark by 2025. A Parliamentary Standing Committee report on cancer, released in September 2022, expressed concern about the “inaccessible and increasing cost of cancer treatment.” For instance, according to the National Sample Survey 2017-18 report, the average medical expenditure per hospitalisation …

India can be third largest economy by skilling: PM Modi
1 year, 9 months ago

India can be third largest economy by skilling: PM Modi

Deccan Chronicle  

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that making medical treatment affordable has been a top priority of his government. The PM lamented the fact that life-saving equipment like medicines, vaccines and medical devices were “weaponised” when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak and said the government was always trying to minimise India’s dependence on foreign countries. …

Explained | India now has 1.4 billion people. What does it mean for their health?
1 year, 9 months ago

Explained | India now has 1.4 billion people. What does it mean for their health?

The Hindu  

Published : Mar 03, 2023 15:01 IST India’s population reached 1.4 billion people at the end of last year, according to estimates from the World Population Review. The US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has predicted that India’s population could fall back to around one billion by the end of the century. And population growth is not going to …

₹2,828.33 crore for public health in Kerala Budget
1 year, 10 months ago

₹2,828.33 crore for public health in Kerala Budget

The Hindu  

The State Budget 2023-24 speaks about transforming Kerala into global healthcare capital, providing better healthcare services, focussing on health tourism and expanding and modernising existing facilities. “Navakerala Karma Padhati-2”, which has clubbed Rebuild Kerala Initiative and four Missions — Haritha Keralam, Aardram, LIFE and Vidya Kiranam — together gets an outlay of ₹10 crores in the Budget, while a chunk …

Economic Survey 2022-23 | Out-of-pocket health spending still high, despite hike in government expenditure
1 year, 10 months ago

Economic Survey 2022-23 | Out-of-pocket health spending still high, despite hike in government expenditure

The Hindu  

Almost half of all health spending in India is still paid by patients themselves directly at the point of treatment, although this has dropped as the government’s share of spending on health went up significantly after 2013-14, according to the Economic Survey 2022-23. The share of government health expenditure in total health expenditure was just 28.6% in the financial year …

Alleviating the scourge of private healthcare
1 year, 11 months ago

Alleviating the scourge of private healthcare

The Hindu  

India ranks poorly on multiple health financing indicators. Public health insurance schemes have often been reproached for imposing unreasonable package rates on empanelled private providers with a weak regard for actual costs of care. For instance, some countries like Canada have conceived regional health boards that organise care equitably within regions, exploit economies of scale, and bring down healthcare costs. …

Andhra Pradesh\'s health reforms package costs Rs 16,225 crore
2 years, 3 months ago

Andhra Pradesh\'s health reforms package costs Rs 16,225 crore

Deccan Chronicle  

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Jagan Reddy said in the state assembly on Tuesday that the government is spending Rs 16,225 crore through the Nadu-Nedu on medical and health reforms, so as to provide best services to the public. He said the government was also spending Rs 12,268 crore for the establishment of 17 new medical colleges. Jagan said, “YSR Village Clinics …

A heartening health update
2 years, 3 months ago

A heartening health update

Hindustan Times  

The latest report of National Health Accounts — it has data for 2018-19 — shows that India continues to make progress towards reducing the burden of health spending on household budgets. This is a heartening development because the poor are more likely to gain when government spending rather than private health insurance brings about a reduction in OOP spending. As …

To bolster health care, governments must raise their budget allocations
2 years, 9 months ago

To bolster health care, governments must raise their budget allocations

Hindustan Times  

We are now past the halfway mark between 2017 and 2025. The National Health Policy 2017 aimed to increase public health spending from about 1% of the Gross Domestic Product to 2.5% by 2025. Before NHP 2017, NHP 2002, National Rural Health Mission in 2005, and the 11th and 12th five-year plans, all envisioned an increase in public health spending …

Chandrajit Banerjee | Budget must pave way for ambitious decadal growth
2 years, 11 months ago

Chandrajit Banerjee | Budget must pave way for ambitious decadal growth

Deccan Chronicle  

India’s economy has seen a sharp rebound after the first two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to be the fastest growing major economy this year. Low government health expenditure leads to higher per capita out-of-pocket expenditure, impacting disposable incomes and access to healthcare. Therefore, India must increase its public expenditure on healthcare from the current 1.3 per …

Wanted: A truly generous health cheque for underserved Indians
3 years, 1 month ago

Wanted: A truly generous health cheque for underserved Indians

Live Mint  

At an annual spend hovering around ₹2,000 per capita, India’s public health expenditure remains one of the lowest among major economies in the world. Yet, in fiscal 2020-21, when the pandemic burst on the scene, India’s government health expenditure inched up to merely 1.5% of GDP. The National Health Policy, in addition to recommending an increase in overall public health …

‘More health for the money’: Obtaining more value from financing
3 years, 3 months ago

‘More health for the money’: Obtaining more value from financing

Hindustan Times  

Currently, we in India spend a total of about 4% of our Gross Domestic Product on health care, with almost 2.5% being directly paid for by us at the time that we use any health care services, and only 1.25% being spent by the government. Having failed to obtain substantial improvements within their current systems using traditional methods, a number …

India needs big investment in health workforce
3 years, 5 months ago

India needs big investment in health workforce

Hindustan Times  

The current COVID-19 pandemic significantly exposed the limitations of India’s health system. A recent study ‘Size, composition and distribution of health workforce in India: why, and where to invest?’ published in a leading international journal Humans Resources for Health highlighted that density of active health workforce in India is a little over one-fourth of the WHO recommended threshold of 44.5 …

The health nudge is merely a mirage
3 years, 10 months ago

The health nudge is merely a mirage

Live Mint  

HYDERABAD : The Union Budget, as expected, focused on healthcare, recognizing the havoc that the pandemic has caused in the country. With current enrolment under RSBY and other state-run insurance schemes well below the target of 500 million, increased allocation of funds was a necessary step in order to expand health insurance coverage. In a year when everything should have …

What The 137% Hike in Health Budget Means: From a Doctor Petitioning for Healthy India
3 years, 10 months ago

What The 137% Hike in Health Budget Means: From a Doctor Petitioning for Healthy India

News 18  

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented India’s budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 on Monday. Emphasizing that the Budget proposal of 2021-2022 rests on 6 pillars including that of Health and Wellbeing, Sitharaman proposed more than doubling India’s healthcare and wellbeing spending to 2.2 trillion rupees. Dr Sarika Verma, an ENT surgeon based out …

In annual budget, India vows to boost spending to revive economy
3 years, 10 months ago

In annual budget, India vows to boost spending to revive economy

Al Jazeera  

India to double healthcare spending, increase cap on foreign investment in insurance to boost the industry. The current fiscal year ending on March 31 was expected to close out with a deficit of 9.5 percent, she said, much higher than the government’s earlier projection of 7 percent. Sitharaman proposed increasing healthcare spending to 2.2 trillion Indian rupees to help improve …

Economic Survey | ‘High out-of-pocket expenses for health can lead to poverty’
3 years, 10 months ago

Economic Survey | ‘High out-of-pocket expenses for health can lead to poverty’

The Hindu  

India has one-of-the highest level of Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures contributing directly to the high incidence of catastrophic expenditures and poverty, notes the Economic Survey. The Survey also underlines that OOPE for health increases the risk of vulnerable groups slipping into poverty because of catastrophic health expenditures. The Survey added that for enabling India to respond to pandemics, the health infrastructure must …

How Covid-19 will shape India's Budget 2021
3 years, 11 months ago

How Covid-19 will shape India's Budget 2021

India Today  

After being shaken by a pandemic, India’s upcoming budget is likely to allocate more money on health and related infrastructure. The government's budget gap will likely widen more than 7 per cent of the GDP this year as tax collection has dropped due to economic slowdown. Data shows that India's out-of-pocket expenditure is more than 60 per cent of India's …

The antidote for India’s healthcare woes
4 years ago

The antidote for India’s healthcare woes

Live Mint  

“This is indeed India!” remarked Mark Twain, as he tried to grasp the complex and nuanced Indian society. Considering that India’s healthcare spending, at 3.5% of gross domestic product, is significantly lower than peers, one would assume that higher government spending can alleviate all the pain points in the healthcare ecosystem. Similarly, India can work towards creating a Health Open …

Stopping the slide of health care in India
4 years ago

Stopping the slide of health care in India

The Hindu  

India’s health care is a dark echo chamber. What makes insurance and private health care an egregious combination is that the insurance backup incentivises hospitals to expand the bill but the patients do not get attended to in their best interests. In any case, insurance of secondary and tertiary care pushes out long-term investment by the state and people and …

Health spending to be raised substantially in next 5 years: Harsh Vardhan
4 years, 2 months ago

Health spending to be raised substantially in next 5 years: Harsh Vardhan

Live Mint  

India aims to increase the public healthcare spending by 345% over the current share in next five years considering the covid-19 pandemic, Harsh Vardhan, union health minister said on Sunday, while interacting with people on social media during the third episode of Sunday Samvaad. This will mean an actual increase of 345% over the current share in this short period …

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