OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENDITURE (OOPE)

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Context

Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a share of total health expenditure and foreign aid for health has both come down as per the findings of the National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates for India for 2017-18.

Findings

As a share of total health expenditure, the OOPE has come down to 48.8% in 2017-18 from 64.2% in 2013-14.
One of the factors attributing to this decline is the increase in utilisation and reduction in cost of services in Government health facilities.
If we compare NHA 2014-15 and 2017-18, there has been a decline in OOPE for Government hospitals to the tune of 50%.

Government effort

The NHA estimates for 2017-18 clearly showed that there had been an increase in the share of Government health expenditure in the total GDP of the country.
It has increased from 1.15% in 2013-14 to 1.35% in 2017-18.
Additionally, the share of Government Health Expenditure in total health expenditure has also increased over time.
In 2017-18, the share of Government expenditure was 40.8%, which is much higher than 28.6% in 2013-14.
The report further indicates that in per capita terms, the Government health expenditure has increased from Rs 1,042 to Rs 1,753 between 2013-14 to 2017-18.

The Report

This is the fifth consecutive NHA report produced by National Health Systems Resource Centre, designated as National Health Accounts Technical Secretariat in 2014 by the Health Ministry.
The NHA estimates are prepared by using an accounting framework based on internationally accepted System of Health Accounts 2011, provided by the World Health Organization.