The Union government will now need to increase health financing and putting in place governance structures for strategic purchasing to prepare for an efficient roll out of the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), according to experts.
As part of an effort to examine the progress to the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) organised by the George Institute for Global Health, the roundtable brought together government officials, health care providers, academics, international agencies and civil society organisations. The discussion was on Progress towards Universal Health Coverage in India.
The timing of the meeting was ideal given that a critical component of India’s UHC initiative is the yet-to-be- finalized NHPS that will provide coverage for 500 million people and would be the largest social health insurance program in the world, stated Dr Stephen Jan, representative George Institute for Global Health, Sydney
Setting the tone for the discussion, Dr. Jan of said we must take care of multiple dimensions of UHC related to financing and service provision. Current investment trends across the globe are not enough, he said, adding substantial investments are required to meet the global 2030 SDG targets.
Giving the Indian scenario, Dr. Shankar Prinja, Health Economist at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh said that there was an urgent need to increase the government spending on health. There was also a need for evidence-based planning for choosing interventions and services in benefit package.
Dr. Anadi Gupt, National Health Mission, Himachal Pradesh shared the State Government’s perspective on UHC along the six components defined by the World Health Organisation and what they were doing against each.
Making a special mention of the free drugs scheme, Dr. Gupt said having a free scheme in place was not enough, procuring and disseminating of drugs so it reaches the needy and vulnerable, will need improved governance.
Dr. Shaktivel Selvaraj, Public Health Foundation of India said publicly funded health insurance schemes must ensure improved access and provide financial protection.
Dr. Shefali Malhotra, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) presented an analysis of the health insurance schemes said that the settlement ratio was abysmally falling short of the consumer requirements.
Dr. Anup Karan, Indian Institute of Public Health said that all the health insurance schemes are designated for poor but the identification and definition of poor varies resulting in varied coverage across states.
India’s current program of UHC aims to provide reasonable access to healthcare for its 1.3 billion population. However, The country currently has over 1 billion people uninsured and it was estimated that 63 million Indians annually experience impoverishment due to illness and injury. In addition, high out-of-pocket costs pose significant barriers for many patients All this should be addressed in a robust and integrated scheme the experts concluded.