NHPS Could Become Could Become A Game Changer

The healthcare sector has got its required dose in this year’s budget as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a slew of measures that may prove to be a ‘game changer’ going forward.

Jaitley said that the government will cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families under the new flagship National Health Protection Scheme – that effectively translates to 50 crore beneficiaries, making it the world’s largest health-protection scheme. Jaitley also said that the government will provide up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for medical reimbursement – be it in terms of secondary or tertiary care hospitalisation.

According to data from health care fund Quadria Capital, more than 70 percent of India lives in the hinterland—of this 60 percent is poor, 35 percent is middle class and the remaining can be categorised as rich.

“The National Healthcare Protection Scheme (NHPS) announced by our FM… is a welcome move not just to maintain a healthy India but this I believe will also create several lakh new jobs in the country as new healthcare facilities will come up in smaller districts and villages,” said Antony Jacob, CEO, Apollo Munich Health Insurance. “This move will go a long way in empowering India’s poor and underprivileged,” he added.

Echoing the same sentiment, Anjan Bose, Secretary-General, NATHEALTH added that overall Union Budget 2018-19 poses to be progressive one along with some populist measures. “The FM clearly focuses on improving healthcare access for the less privileged and on preventive and wellness both of which are very encouraging,” said Bose.

The healthcare measures this year are path-breaking for the sheer size, coverage and the amount committed per family. Currently, the government provides health insurance to the tune of Rs 30,000 under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) for poor families – that is enough to cover all medical needs.

Jaitley also announced the creation of health and wellness centres across the country under Bharat Ayushman Programme – a move that is intended to bring “bring healthcare closer to home”. The government will be allotted Rs 1,200 crore for this. The centres are expected to provide treatment for non-communicable diseases.

Milind Kothari, Managing Partner, Head-Tax and Regulatory services at BDO India, said: “The announcement in the area of healthcare ushers India firmly in the next generation of social security as India moves aggressively towards a progressive developing economy.” He, however, added “We would need to wait to see that we differentiate this initiative from some of the countries such as UK where NHS is failing as an anchor institution on account of lack of adequate funding by the government and also challenges on account of the flight of immigrants due to Brexit.   

The measures come as a relief to the healthcare sector that has historically been struggling with a slew of long-standing fundamental issues. According to a report jointly published by KPMG and FICCI in 2016, the doctor-patient ratio in India stands at a dismal 1:1,700.

 In the Union Budget 2017, there were no structural announcements made, even as the healthcare sector had got its due significance. Last year, Jaitley had announced initiatives to widen the availability of essential drugs across the country and reduce the cost of life-saving drugs.