The National Health Account Estimates 2019-20 study shows an increase in government spending while decreasing out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.
Estimates for the National Health Account (NHA)
- The National Health Systems Resource Centre’s (NHSRC) seventh consecutive report is the NHA forecasts for India 2019-20.
- The Union Health Ministry designated NHSRC as the National Health Accounts Technical Secretariat (NHATS) in 2014.
- The NHA estimates are based on an accounting system based on the WHO’s internationally recognised System of Health Accounts, 2011.
- From 2013-14 to 2019-20, India now has a continuous set of NHA projections, making the forecasts comparable internationally.
- The estimates allow policymakers to track progress in the country’s various health financing variables.
Key issues
- Activists are unhappy about the government’s modest increase in spending.
- Global laggard: This growth in government health spending as a proportion of GDP includes capital spending, putting India 164th out of 184 nations in terms of government health spending.
- There will be no proportional increase: Total health spending as a percentage of GDP has been decreasing, falling from 3.9% in 2015 to 3.3% in 2020, reflecting a decrease in healthcare consumption.
@the end
- Overall, the research indicates that government spending on healthcare has increased while out-of-pocket spending has decreased.
- There is a need to invest in public health and insurance, as well as increasing state contributions to healthcare.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-health/what-the-latest-national-health-account-figure-say-about-indias-healthcare-sector-8581554/#:~:text=Out%20of%20the%20total%20spending,tertiary%20care%20in%20FY%202015.