INDIA’S HEALTH EXPENDITURE

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Context

India’s total health expenditure went down from 3.9 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2013-14 to 3.2 per cent in 2018-19, according to the latest national health estimates- National Health Accounts Estimates 2018-19 Report.

Health Expenditure

Total health expenditure

Total health expenditure is the money spent by the government, people, private entities and external funding.
The trend was mirrored by the Union government, whose expenditure on healthcare went down to 1.28 per cent of the GDP in 2018-19 from the previous year’s figure of 1.35 per cent.
As the total healthcare expenditure has increased from 29 per cent in 2014-15 to 40.6 per cent in 2018-19, the decline is even more pronounced.

Out-of-pocket Expenditure

Out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare by households — a key reason pushing Indians into poverty — has declined by 16 percentage points, from 64.2 per cent to 48.2 per cent in the same period. It was even higher in 2004-2005, at 69.4 per cent. Still the figure remains significantly higher than the global average, which stands at 18.1 per cent in 2019, as per the World Bank.

State-wise disparities

In Uttar Pradesh, out-of-pocket health expenditure accounts for 71.3 per cent of the state’s total health expenditure (THE). The state government is responsible for only 24.8 per cent of THE.
Other states with a high out-of-pocket health expenditure share are West Bengal (68.7 per cent of THE), Punjab (65.5 per cent), Odisha (53.2 per cent), Telangana (48 per cent) and Himachal Pradesh (45.8 per cent).

Economic Burden of Healthcare in India

The economic burden of healthcare in India is largely borne by households that contribute Rs 3,24,717 crore to the current healthcare expenditure.
The Union government’s share is Rs 63,256 crore, the state governments’ share is Rs 1,06,056 crore and local bodies contribute Rs 5,451 crore. Non-governmental organisations spend Rs 8,484 crore, while external/donor funding contributes about Rs 2,493 crore.

The figures are estimated based on the global standard framework — System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011)

Significance of these figures

NHA statistics are critical because they answer important policy questions such as what are the sources of healthcare expenditures, who manages these, who provides health care services, and which services are utilised.

Read: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/healthcare-sector-in-india