Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: Governance: Health
Context:
- Most middle-class taxpayers in private jobs are stuck between the devil and the deep sea when it comes to accessing quality, and yet affordable, healthcare.
• Their faith in government hospitals is eroding, and dependence on expensive private hospitals is increasing.
Coverage of Ayushman Bharat scheme:
- The government claims to cover 50 crore poor people under the cashless health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, officials say a much lesser population is being tracked in urban areas because of lack of proper addresses in the Socio-Economic Caste Census.
• The rest of the population, except government employees, are bereft of any government sponsored health cover or subsidy.
Challenges for achieving Universal Health Coverage:
- In 1948, the World Health Organisation had enshrined ‘Universal Health Coverage’ — which means quality health services provided at affordable costs — as a fundamental right of each citizen.
• Seventy-two years have passed without that becoming a reality in India, even as the country acceded to this in 1979 and hence making it obligatory to progress towards the goal.
• To expand the health net, the government will also have to increase its healthcare budget, which is currently around 1.5 per cent of GDP.
• As per the government’s own reckoning, the budget has to be scaled up by 26 per cent year-on-year to achieve a target of 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025.
Way ahead:
- As the government aims at ushering in universal health coverage, it has not charted a way forward yet.
• The biggest hurdle to universalising access to health is improving and regulating the quality of care.
• In the event of non-upgradation, taxpayers may have to pay up but not get care in their choice of hospital.
• This apart, doctors themselves are the biggest roadblock, as they oppose implementation of The Clinical Establishments Act, which aims at regulating the quality of care.
• While funds for schemes can gradually be figured out, improving and regulating the quality of care is a bigger issue.
• Without addressing this, talking about access to healthcare is futile.