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By the most recent national healthcare accounts report, over six years, India’s per capita healthcare spending at constant prices has remained static despite rises in government expenditure and drops in consumption expenditure.
Over that time, India’s per capita total health spending increased from Rs 3,174 in 2013–14 to Rs 3,503 in 2016–17 and then fell to Rs 3,314 in 2018–19. Based on a report released by the Union ministry of health on Monday, overall healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP decreased from 4% in 2013–14 to 3.2% in 2018–19.
Key takeaways
- Based on the National Health Accounting for 2018 to 2019, public healthcare spending decreased from 1.35 percent in 2017to 18 to 1.28 percent from 2018 to 2019.
- This falls far short of the Public Healthcare Policy 2017’s target, which raised government healthcare spending to 2.5% by 2025.
- In 2018 to 2019, the government spent Rs. 1,815 on health per person compared to the corresponding period—2,155 in personal expenditures over the same year.
- From 2018 to 2019, total healthcare spending was Rs. 5,96,440 cr. 40.61, the federal government spent per cent of this total. This is 4.81 per cent of the overall government expenditure during that period.
- The comparable proportion of out-of-pocket costs is 48.2%. This covers nearly half of all health care expenses, more than the government.
- In private hospitals, over 28.69% of health spending was generated. This is higher than public hospitals’ healthcare spending, which comprised 17.34% of the total healthcare spending.
Rajesh Bhushan, the health secretary, presented the NHA figures for India for 2017–18 on Monday.
Per findings of the NHA (National Health Accounts) estimates for India for 2017–18 released on Monday by Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, out-of-pocket spending (OOPE) as a proportion of total healthcare costs and international assistance for health have both decreased.
OOPE has decreased from 64.2% of total health spending in 2013–14 to 48.8% in 2017–18. Even the per-person OOPE has reduced from 2013–14 and 2017–18, going from 2,336 to 2,097.
The statement states that the rise in consumption and decreased costs in government health care facilities contribute to this trend. The OOPE for Medical centres has reduced by 50% when comparing NHA 2014–15 and 2017–18, per Mr Bhushan.
The Public Healthcare Systems Resource Centre, which the Health Ministry designated as the NHA Technical Secretariat in 2014, has already released five consecutive NHA reports. The WHO 2011 System of Health Accounts, a globally recognised accounting technique, is used to create the NHA estimations.
“Over 80% of the present Government medical costs are for both primary and secondary care. Regarding federal healthcare spending, the proportion of secondary and primary care has risen. In corporate companies, the balance of multispecialty has grown while that of primary and secondary is declining. In government institutions, primary and secondary care percentages rose from 75% to 86% between 2016–17 and 2017–18. According to the research, corporate companies’ primary and secondary healthcare rate has fallen from 84% to 74%.
Additionally, the proportion of social security health-care expenditures has increased. This spending represents the social healthcare program, coalition health insurance plans, and medical benefits paid to government workers.
In terms of the percentage of overall healthcare costs, the growth was from 6% in 2013–14 to around 9% in 2017–18. The results reveal that foreign donations for medicine have decreased to 0.5%, indicating India’s financial independence, according to Mr Bhushan.
Countries with Increasing Healthcare Spending
Health expenditures now make up 10% of the global GDP, rising more quickly than the rest of the economy (GDP). The WHO(World Health Organisation ) has published a report on global health spending that shows a sharp rise in spending, particularly in low- and middle-income nations where health care spending is expanding on average by 6% yearly as opposed to 4% in high-income nations.
Government expenditure, out-of-pocket expenses (people paying for their services), and sources like optional medical insurance, company health programmes, and actions by non-governmental groups are all parts of the health spending equation.
Over 35% of healthcare costs worldwide are compensated for by private expenditures, with government funding 51% on average of each nation’s health expenditures. 100 million individuals are annually driven into severe impoverishment due to this.
Estimates from the NHA (National Health Account)
The NHA (National Health Account) estimates for India year 2018 to 2019 is the sixth straight report to be published by NHSRC, which the Union Health Ministry recognised as the NHATS (National Health Accounts Technical Secretariat) in 2014. The 2011 System of Health Accounts, developed by the WHO (World Health Organisation), serves as the basis for the accounting framework used to prepare the NHA estimates (WHO).
India now has a continuous series of NHA estimations for the nation, spanning 2013 to 2014 to 2018–19, thanks to the most recent analysis. These figures allow managers to track changes in the nation’s various health funding metrics and are comparative on a global scale.
