Research report on

Impact of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya

Yojnaa on Indian Economy

By:

15 may 2019
Department of Management
Poornima University

INDEX
S.No. Particulars Page no.
1. Introduction 1-5
2. Review of literature 5-10
3. Objectives of the study 6
4. Research methodology 7-11
5 Benefits and features of PMJAY 12-16
6. Who are eligible for the scheme 17-21
7. Challenges faced by the govt. 22-26
8. Initial success of pmjay 27-29
9. Expenditure involved 30
10. Conclusion 31-32
11. limitation 33-35

INTRODUCTION
Ayushmaan Bharat Yojnaa or Pradhan Mantri
Jan Arogya Yojnaa (PMJAY) or National
Health Protection Scheme is a centrally
sponsored scheme launched in 2018, under the
Ayushmaan Bharat Mission of MoHFW in
India. The scheme aims at making intercession
in primary, secondary & tertiary care systems,
covering both preventive & primitives health, to
address healthcare drastically. It is an umbrella
of two major health initiatives, Health &
Wellness centers & National Health Protection
Scheme (NHPS). Induu Bhushan is the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) & Dr Dinesh Aroraa
being the Deputy CEO of Ayushmaan Bharat
Yojnaa.

Ayushmaan Bharat consists of two

major elements.
1. National Health Protection
Scheme
 Ayushmaan Bharat-National Health
Protection Scheme, which will cover over
10 crore (one hundred million) poor &
exposed families (approximately 50 crore
(five hundred million) beneficiaries)
providing coverage up to 5 lakh rupees
($7,100) per family per year for secondary
& tertiary care hospitalization.
 Benefits of the scheme are portable across
the country & a beneficiary covered under
the scheme will be allowed to take cashless
benefits from any public or private inlisted
hospitals across the country.
 It will be an entitlement based scheme with
entitlement decided on basis of deprivation
criteria in the SECC database. It will be
targeting about 10.74 crore poor,
underprivileged rural families & identified
occupational category of urban workers'
families as per the latest Socio-Economic
 Caste Census (SECC) data covering both
rural & urban.
 One of the core principles of Ayushmaan
Bharat - National Health Protection Mission
is to co-operative federalism & flexibility to
states.
 For giving policy directions & encouraging
coordination between Centre & States, it is
proposed to set up Ayushmaan Bharat
National Health Protection Mission Council
(AB-NHPMC) at top level Chaired by
Union Health & Family Welfare Minister.
States would need to have State Health
Agency (SHA) to enforce the scheme.
 Covering almost all secondary & many
tertiary hospitalizations. (except a negative
list)

2. Wellness centres
Rs 1200 crore ($170 million) allocated for 1.5
lakh (150,000) health & wellness centres,Under
this 1.5 lakh centres will be setup to provide
comprehensive health care,including for non-
communicable diseases & maternal & child
health services, apart from free essential drugs
& diagnostic services. The government will
upgrade existing Public Health Centres to
Wellness Centres. The welfare scheme has been
rolled out on August 15, 2018. Further,
Contribution of private sector through CSR &
philanthropic institutions in adopting these
centres is also envisaged. The list of Services to
be provided at Health & Wellness Centre
include:
 Pregnancy care & maternal health services
 Neonatal & infant health services
 Child health
 Chronic communicable diseases
 Non-communicable diseases
 Management of mental illness
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The Ayushmaan Bharat: National Health Protection

Scheme (AB-NHPS) has a defined benefit cover
of ₹ 5 lakh per family per year covering over 10
crore families. The ideation of the scheme needs to
be lauded for addressing one of the primary issues of
our healthcare system—the rising out-of-pocket
expenditure. In 2011-12, more than 55 million
Indians were pushed into the poverty because of
rising expenses on healthcare. Several studies have
shown that an increase in illness & consequent
expenditure on drugs, diagnostics & care leads to the
poverty in developing countries. Government data
suggests that about 63% of the people have to pay
for their own healthcare & hospitalization expenses
as they are not covered under any health protection
scheme. Hence, there is no doubt that the mission is
well-intentioned. However, its implementation in the
current form could create an incentive problem in
certain states, which could potentially minimize their
health spending.
First, under the 7th schedule of the Indian
Constitution, health is a state subject. This means
that health as a motif, gains electoral importance
primarily at the state level. The reason for this is
simple. Apart from central institutions such as the
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a major
chunk of the hospitals/ medical centres is state-
owned & -operated. Therefore, the accountability of
these also falls with the state. In such a scenario, a
nationwide scheme of health insurance to supply
healthcare facilities at the state level leads to a
dilution of the state responsibility in the provisioning
of the same.
Additionally, the states’ participation in the scheme
makes them to contribute funds for insurance, which
naturally diverts funds allocated to building
healthcare infrastructure within the state. This issue
could be exacerbated by the provision of portable
healthcare services in-built into the scheme.
Portability of healthcare allows the beneficiaries to
avail cashless benefits at any empanelled hospital
across the country. This move, while increasing
access, is also expected to cause pooling of patients
in hospitals (& consequently states), where the
health infrastructure is relatively well developed.
Currently, access to health services varies
significantly across Indian states. At the national
level, India only has 0.62 doctors for every 1,000
population, as opposed to the World Health
Organization st&ard of 1 doctor per 1,000
population. However, at the state level, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, Goa, & Delhi have
more than 1 doctor for every 1,000 people. In fact,
Tamil Nadu & Delhi have 1 doctor for every 253 &
334 persons respectively. Such a high density of
doctors in these states puts them at par with
countries such as Norway & Sweden in terms of
access to healthcare. In comparison, Jharkh&,
Haryana & Chhattisgarh have only 1 doctor for
every 6,000 persons, which greatly reduces the
accessibility of healthcare in these states.
The existing health infrastructure created by these
states is an output of years of heightened health
spending & investment in skill development. The
high correlation between health spending & health
performance has strong theoretical & empirical
roots. According to a 2018 report by NITI Aayog
which formulated an index of health, the 3 top-
ranking states were Kerala, Punjab & Tamil Nadu.
Unsurprisingly, these were also the 3 top spenders
on health infrastructure from 2004-05 to 2015-16. In
fact, equalization of health expenditure across states
is desirable for achievement of sustained national
health targets (see “Inter-state equalization of health
expenditures in Indian union “by Govinda Rao &
Mita Choudhury). Over the years, the disparity in
per capita health expenditure across states has
exhibited an increasing trend. The average per-capita
health expenditure of the bottom three states
was ₹ 122 in 2004-05, ₹ 130 less than the average
per-capita expenditure of the top spenders. This gap
has grown substantially in the last 10 years to
reach ₹ 561 in 2014-15.
The cerebration of AB-NHPS is commendable, but
the enforceation in its current form is possibly
problematic. At the end of the day, given the state of
primary healthcare in India, we need more schemes
such as the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan to take care of
the actual spread of diseases & not merely of their
treatment.
 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general objective of the study is to examine the

general underst&ing & perception of pmjay & its
effect. Some specific objectives of the study are as
follows:
 To know the benefits & features of pradhan
mantri jan aarogya yojna.
 To find out the categories in rural & urban that
will be covered under pmjay.
 To find out the challenges faced by the
government.
 To determine the initial success of pmjay & also
the expenditure involved in it.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A research methodology involves specific

techniques that are adopted in research process to
collect, assemble & evaluate data. It defines those
tools that are used to gather relevant information in a
specific research study. Surveys, questionnaires &
interviews are the common tools of research.
The research of this topic is important as pmjay aims
to secure the lives of 50 crore individuals that
comprises of 10.74 cr poor families including both
rural & urban areas with a defined benefit cover of
Rs 5 lakh per family. The scheme covers over nearly
40% of the population targeted towards poorest &
the vulnerable. Apart from increasing access to
quality & affordable healthcare & medication, other
unmet needs of the population such as timely
treatments, improvements in health outcomes,
patient satisfaction, improvement in productivity &
efficiency will be catered to under the scheme.
For every individual in India, health insurance has
become a necessity. It provides risk coverage against
expenditure which is caused by unforeseen medical
emergencies. Today, when the medical inflation
rates are so high, failing to hold an adequate health
cover can prove costly financially. However, the
awareness about health insurance is on the rise in
urban India.
Medical emergencies come unannounced. To get the
best medical facilities without a financial burden you
will need a health insurance. Buying a health cover
is no longer an option but has become a compulsion.
Health insurance policy is well established in most
countries but in India is remains an untapped market.
Only 1.1 billion of the Indian population which is
less than 15% of the Indian population is covered
through health insurance.
According to WHO statistics 31% & 47% of the
hospital admissions in urban & rural India are either
financed by loans or through sale of assets.
Additionally as per the statistics, 70% of Indians
spend their entire income on healthcare & 3.2% of
Indians fall under the poverty line owing to high
medical bills.
The research methodology will be help to know the
benefits of the pradhan mantri jan aarogya yojna ,its
importance , its impact on people’s healthcare &
medication. We will find out who can get benefits
from this government scheme. The research
methodology will be based on both qualitative &
quantitative approach. The qualitative approach will
help us to study the benefits of pmjay, the challenges
faced by government in launching the scheme. On
the other h& quantitative approach will help us to
know who can enroll for this scheme & also we can
find how much people taking advantage of this
scheme & how much impact this scheme has on
people’s healthcare & meditation.

Research design
Research design can be defined as the plan that we
will use for our research. In simple words research
design means what type of research you are using in
your research.

There are different types of research such as

descriptive research, exploratory research,
experimental research, fundamental research,
applied research. In this research study we are using
descriptive research. A descriptive research may be
defined as the research that describes the
characteristics of the research study. This method
does not focus on "why" but on "what".

The proposed research shall aim at exploring the

theoretical aspects of people’s healthcare &
meditation, for which the qualitative as well as
quantitative information shall be collected to meet
the objectives of present research. So the proposed
research design shall be exploratory, descriptive &
analytical.

Data Collection

Data collection is a process of collecting data &

information from all of the relevant sources to find
answers to the research problem, by testing the
hypothesis & evaluate the outcomes. Data collection
methods can be divided into two categories: primary
methods of data collection & secondary methods of
data collection.
a. Primary data collection: Data is collected by the
researcher form the primary sources using some
methods like surveys, experiments or interviews.

b. Secondary data collection Data is collected from

the secondary resources such as government
publications, record, libraries, newspapers etc.

In this research study the relevant data will be

collected from secondary Sources i.e. Govt. of India
Publications relevant to the proposed research work
& other respective Institutions available on websites
or hard copies. The various other secondary sources
like Reputed Journals & Magazines, Periodicals &
Newspapers etc. shall also be considered.
BENEFITS OF PRADHAN MANTRI JAN

AROGYA YOJNAA

India takes a giant leap towards providing accessible

& affordable healthcare to the common man with the
launch of Ayushmaan Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan
AarogyaYojnaa (AB-PMJAY) by the Prime
Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 23rd September,
2018 at Ranchi, Jharkh&. Under the vision of
Ayushmaan Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan
AarogyaYojnaa (AB-PMJAY) shall be enforceed so
that each & every citizen receives his due share of
health care. With Ayushmaan Bharat – Pradhan
Mantri Jan AarogyaYojnaa, the government is
taking healthcare protection to a new aspirational
level. This is the “world’s largest government
funded healthcare program” targeting more than
50 crore beneficiaries.

 Ayushmaan Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan

ArogyaYojnaa (PMJAY) will provide a cover of
 up to Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year, for
secondary & tertiary care hospitalization.
 Over 10.74 crore vulnerable entitled families
(approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) will be
eligiblefor these benefits.
 PMJAY will provide cashless & paperless
access to services for the beneficiary at the point
of service.
 PMJAY will help reduce catastrophic
expenditure for hospitalizations, which
impoverishes people & will help mitigate the
financial risk arising out of catastrophic health
episodes.
 Entitled families will be able to use the quality
health services they need without facing
financial hardships.
 When fully enforceed, PMJAY will become the
world’s largest fully government-financed health
protection scheme. It is a visionary step towards
advancing the agenda of Universal Health
Coverage (UHC).
Features of the scheme
Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojnaa: Financial
protection from catastrophic expenditure:
71st Round of National Sample Survey Organization
(NSSO) has found 85.9% of rural households & 82%
of urban households have no access to healthcare
insurance/assurance. More than 17% of Indian
population spend at least 10% of household budgets
for health services. Catastrophic healthcare related
expenditure pushes families into debt, with more than
24% households in rural India & 18% population in
urban area have met their healthcare expenses through
some sort of borrowings.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojnaa:
Hospitalization cover from inpatient care to post
hospitalisation care:
 The objectives of the Yojnaa are to reduce out of
pocket hospitalisation expenses, fulfil unmet
needs & improve access of identified families to
quality inpatient care & day care surgeries.
 The Yojnaa will provide a coverage up to Rs.
5,00,000 per family per year, for secondary &
 tertiary care hospitalization through a network of
Empanelled Health Care Providers (EHCP).
 The Yojnaa beneficiaries will be able to move
across borders & access services across the
country through the provider network seamlessly.

Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojnaa in alliance

with the States:
 The scheme architecture & formulation has
undergone a truly federal process, with
stakeholder inputs taken from all States & UTs
through the national conclaves, sectoral working
groups, intensive field exercises & piloting of key
modules.
 The Scheme is principle based rather than rule
based, allowing States enough flexibility in terms
of packages, procedures, scheme design,
entitlements as well as other guidelines while
ensuring that key benefits of portability & fraud
detection are ensured at a national level.
Is everyone is eligible for pradhan mantri jan
arogya yojna?

No, everyone is not eligible to enroll for

pradhan mantri jan aarogya yojna or take out
benefits from it. The categories from urban &
rural areas which can get registered for pradhan
mantri jan aarogya yojna scheme are listed
below:

Rural
1. Only one room with kuccha walls & kuccha roof
2. L&less households finding their income from
manual casual labor
3. Female-headed households (where no adult male
member between the age group of 16-59 years)
4. Disabled member & no able-bodied adult member
5. Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe households
Following are the categories that will automatically
be included under rural
1. Households without shelter
2. Destitute/ living on alms
3. Manual scavenger families
4. Primitive tribal groups
5. Legally released bonded labor

Urban
The occupational categories that come under urban
1. Rag picker
2. Beggar
3. Domestic worker
4. Street vendor/ Cobbler/hawker / other service
provider working on streets
5. Construction worker/ Plumber/ Mason/ Labour/
Painter/ Welder/ Security guard/
6. Coolie & another head-load worker
7. Sweeper/ Sanitation worker / Mali
8. Home-based worker/ Artisan/ H&icrafts worker /
Tailor
9. Transport worker/ Driver/ Conductor/ Helper to
drivers & conductors/ Cart puller/ Rickshaw puller
10. Shop worker/ Assistant/ Peon in small
establishment/ Helper/Delivery assistant / Attendant/
Waiter
11. Electrician/ Mechanic/ Assembler/ Repair
worker
12. Washer-man/ Chowkidar
Since those who qualify for the PMJAY health cover
do not need to apply, there are no registration fees to
be paid or application forms to be filled. All that a
person needs to do to find if he or she is a
beneficiary is to either call up a helpline number or
enter a few details on the official website.
You can log into the scheme’s official portal. Once
there, you can enter your mobile number & a
captcha code. Click on Generate OTP & wait for an
SMS to arrive on your mobile containing the one-
time password. After entering your OTP, the website
leads you to a search screen containing slots for
areas, search by name, father’s name, mothers name,
spouse’s name & pin code.

You can check for eligibility by entering your name,

mobile number, ration card number, or Rashtriya
Swasthya Bima Yojna URN number. Make sure you
select the State you fall under before proceeding
with this. If the list already contains your name it
appears on the right side of your screen. Click where
it says Family Members & the action will reveal
beneficiary details & who all in your family are
entitled to the health cover.
CHALLENGES FACED BY THE
GOVERNMENT

The first & the foremost challenge would be in the

form of communicating the benefits of the scheme to
the beneficiaries. How do you even “inform” the
beneficiary that he is covered? An insurance scheme
launched in a state during the early years of this
millennium ended up benefitting only the insurance
company. The scheme was announced with a lot of
fanfare at the state capital but the beneficiaries, most
of who were in far-flung areas & illiterate, never got
to know about the scheme, which was ab&oned after
a year. Effective communication strategy would be
critical for the scheme. This strategy will have to go
beyond pure “publicity” to keep select audience
happy.
Latest Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) data
are being used to determine the list of beneficiaries.
We are all aware that there are huge infirmities in
these data. These infirmities will creep into the
scheme as well. Thus, some “real” beneficiaries
could be underprivileged of the benefits & the
“ineligible” ones that have somehow smuggled into
the list will get the benefit.
Identification of beneficiaries will be a huge
challenge. The hospital will have to access two data
sets, one related to Aadhaar & the other related to
eligibility. These data sets sit elsewhere. Hence,
access & connectivity will pose a challenge for
hospitals in remote area. A few cases of delays &
mishaps as a consequence of these could bring a bad
name to the scheme. There could have easily been an
off-line management, but the structuring of the
scheme is such that the data sets will have to be
accessed even from remote locations.
Remote areas do not have private hospitals. Even the
public health infrastructure is not up to the mark.
The success of the scheme will be determined by the
additional value that the scheme brings to the
beneficiary. The beneficiary already has free access
to public healthcare, irrespective of PMJAY. The
value to him will come either by improved facilities
in government hospitals or through an additional
option of healthcare that he can avail of in private
hospitals. In a number of districts in the country
there aren’t very many hospitals that qualify to be
empanelled. Thus, the beneficiary will have to seek
services only from government hospitals. It is,
however, expected that private healthcare facilities
will come up as a consequence of the “dem&”
created under PMJAY. This will have to be pro-
actively facilitated & incentivized. If this doesn’t
happen the true benefits of the scheme will not
accrue to the target group.
Prompt settlement of claims raised by hospitals is
critical to the success of the scheme. It is essential to
keep hospitals interested. Only time will tell how
this would be done. There is a mechanism prescribed
in the guidelines for settlement of claims, but to
make them effectively operational will require
enormous amount of effort & capacity building.
Most of the states have opted for “Trust” model &
not the “insurance” model. Barring a few, other
states are setting up government-run institutions to
settle the claims of the hospitals. This is extremely
tricky & the states do not have the capacity to h&le
this complex operation. In &hra Pradesh, from
where this model has been picked up, it evolved over
a period of time. Insurance model enables a
“business” check on the hospitals as the liability of
the government is limited to the premium paid & it
is in the business interest of the insurance company
to keep a check on the hospitals. The government-
run “trust” will neither have the capacity nor a
business interest to curb these. It would be difficult
for these trusts to check frauds. This could emerge as
one of the biggest threats to the scheme.
INITIAL SUCCESS OF PMJAY &
EXPENDITURE INVOLVED

Ayushmaan Bharat is a great scheme to cover all the

poor & vulnerable families who cannot afford proper
medical care. It aims to provide the benefits to
nearly 10.8 crores families under this scheme.

No of hospitals empanelled under AB-PMJAY

To enforce the scheme, government constituted
National Health Authority (NHA) & request to the
states to constitute a State Health Authority Body
(SHA). The hospitals which are willing to
collaborate & jointly work under Ayushmaan Bharat
scheme, they can register by visiting official’s site of
the AB- PMJAY & going through regular
verification procedure.
Till date number of hospitals empanelled
are 15,256 across the country.
No of benefactors till date under AB-JAY
The Ayushmaan Bharat is one of the worlds’ largest
healthcare schemes, that aims to provide the
healthcare benefits to nearly 50 crore people in the
country. It is quickly gaining the popularity among
the citizens; people are actively engaging in the
scheme.

Till date number of e-cards issued to the families are

2,88,07,760.

Number of Beneficiaries admitted & benefited from

the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojnaa
are 18,20,686.

Still NHA & SHA are working hard to aware the

citizens & identify the families through different
awareness programs.
Expenditure by the Government

Current Health expenditure by the government is 1.5% of

our country’s GDP. In 2018 government sanctioned
Rs.2000 crores for the Ayushmaan Bharat (PM-JAY). In
2019 budget it raised to Rs.6400 crores. Next time in the
year of 2020 the government is likely to spend Rs.10,000
crores for the Ayushmaan Bharat scheme.
 Central government & state government
contribution for the scheme is 60:40 ratio.
 90:10 ratio for the North-eastern hilly states.
 100% central government sponsor for UT without
legislature & 60:40 for Union territories with
legislature.

Nearly 10 lakhs people benefited from the scheme, it is an

initial success for the government, many senior citizens
undergone knee replacement surgeries. Children with
heart problems are also treated under priority basis. This
warm & satisfactory feedback from citizens made the
government to increase the expenditures of the scheme.
CONCLUSION

The AB-PMJAY offers a unique opportunity to improve

the health of hundreds of millions of Indians & eliminate
a major source of poverty afflicting the nation. There are,
however, substantial challenges that need to be overcome
to enable these benefits to be realised by the Indian
population & ensure that the scheme makes a sustainable
contribution to the progress of India towards UHC. UHC
has become a key guiding target for health systems
around the world under the Sustainable Development
Goals to improve the health of the global population &
overcome the scourge of medical-related impoverishment.
The success of UHC is measured by the access of health
services across the population, the types of services that
are available, & the financial protection offered to the
population. While there are obvious resource constraints
in enforceing AB-PMJAY, the success—or otherwise—of
the scheme in making progress across these three
measures will also depend on overcoming a number of
existing & interrelated structural deficiencies of the
Indian system such as issues of public & private sector
governance, stewardship, quality control, & health system
organisation. To do so will require careful monitoring of
the enforceation of the program to track progress against
key budgetary, service, & financial-protection measures
& guard against unintended consequences. In many cases,
current arrangements in these areas can be seen to be a
product of vested interests & a system that is not designed
to reward positive change. Altering these incentives to
promote universal & quality care for all Indians will
require widespread reform, intervention, & leadership
across all levels of the Indian system. Thus, whilst these
weaknesses pose a threat to the ability of proposed
reforms to meet their ambitious objectives, by providing
the impetus for systemic reform, AB-PMJAY presents the
nation with a chance to tackle long-term & embedded
shortcomings in governance, quality control, &
stewardship.
LIMITATIONS
PMJAY, the new flagship health scheme of the BJP-led
NDA government — has two components. The first is
creation of a nationwide network of 1.5 lakh Health &
Wellness Centers (HWCs) meant to provide
comprehensive health care. The second is the much-
vaunted insurance scheme called the National Health
Protection Scheme (NHPS).
However, there are a number of reasons why either of
these initiatives are unlikely to take care of the health &
medical needs of the vast majority of India’s population.
The idea behind the HWCs is that, at present, the health
sub-centres & primary health centres (PHCs) in India are
focussed mainly on maternal & child health care, besides
some major communicable diseases. Therefore, the sub-
centres & PHCs would be transformed into HWCs, which
would exp& the range of healthcare provided to include
non-communicable diseases & chronic illnesses.
The budget allocated Rs 1,200 crore for this, while
“contribution of private sector through CSR &
philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres is also
envisaged”, says the government. However, this amount
is nowhere close to sufficient for setting up 1.5 lakh
HWCs. An amount of Rs 1,200 crore “would support only
about 10,000 HWCs — less than 7% of what has been
projected.”
In fact, as Sundararaman says, an “additional budgetary
allocation of about Rs 20 lakh per HWC per year, which
would work out to about ₹30,000 crore per year” would
be required. “But there are no indications of such a
commitment — either in neither this year’s Budget nor
the budget allocation that went along with the extension
of the NHM,” he says.
As for the NHPS — which aims to provide insurance
cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for 10 crore
households (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) for
secondary & tertiary care hospitalisation — even the
Parliamentary St&ing Committee on Health & Family
Welfare has pointed out in a report that it is not a “step
forward” from the existing insurance schemes. Moreover,
the allocation of Rs 2,000 crore to provide coverage to
approximately 50 crore beneficiaries is laughable.
Another major limitation of the NHPS is that it will
provide coverage only for secondary & tertiary care
hospitalisation, or only in-patient treatment. But the
majority of people’s health expenditure is on preventive
&/or outpatient care.
As health economist Indranil Mukherjee had told, “Out of
Rs 100 spent from people’s pockets on healthcare
services, say, 60 is on outpatient & preventive care, while
only around 40% is on inpatient care or hospitalisation.”
Most importantly, an insurance scheme is not an
alternative to government provisioning of high-quality &
affordable healthcare services, which are being privatized
& becoming unaffordable — along with the quality
getting shoddier by the day — at an unprecedented rate.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called NHPS the “world’s
largest government-funded health care programme”.
This is inaccurate, not only because “health care” is not
the same as health “coverage” but also because, “the
scheme is allocated just Rs 2,000 crore, while the
government’s own National Health Mission with annual
outlay of Rs 30,000 crore is ignored. India’s public health
services are allocated close to ₹100,000 crore annually.”