Union Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to table the Union Budget 2024 in the third week of July during the monsoon session. Although the government has not announced the dates, sources told Financial Express.com that it is expected to be announced on 23 July or 24 July.
During the Interim Budget 2024, the Finance Minister made some crucial announcements for the healthcare sector like prioritisation of cervical cancer and upgradation of Anganwadi centres. But a lot of long-standing expectations like an extension of the concessional tax regime, GST rationalisation and increased investments in the healthcare sector remained unmet. However, industry leaders are hopeful that these issues will be addressed in the upcoming budget.
The cost of hospital admission continues to be worrisome. In May this year, the Supreme Court had pulled up the government for its failure to specify a range of prices that private hospitals and clinical establishments can charge for various treatments and procedures. Following this, the Bureau of Indian Standards has initiated efforts to standardise and enhance transparency in the billing process at hospitals.
BIS, which is a part of the National Standards Body of India, had also called for consultations from industry bodies and other stakeholders, as per a report by Mint. If you don’t have insurance, hospital expenditure can burn a hole in your pocket. In most cases, hospitals have different costs for patients who pay themselves and for those whose insurance companies pay. Most people have to pay around half of healthcare spending – especially medicines – out of their pocket.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 55 million people are pushed back into poverty every year because of “catastrophic” health expenses, which affect some 17 percent of households.
Dr Girdhar Gyani,Founder Director, Association of Healthcare Providers (AHPI) told Financial Express.com that the cost of hospital admission saw a rise post-COVID-19, but we are now witnessing stability in these expenses.
‘Increase in hospital admission costs not expected’
“As we look ahead to the new fiscal year, we are not anticipating any significant increase in hospital admission costs, thanks to the proactive approach by the government for affordable and inclusive healthcare. To minimise out-of-pocket expenses and financial risks, we strongly recommend population in securing reliable health insurance. Health insurance provides a safety net, ensuring that individuals are not burdened by unexpected medical expenses,” Dr. Gyani told Financial Express.com.
Meanwhile, the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY scheme has been instrumental in benefiting the sizeable population, in meeting hospital admission costs, Dr. Gyani claimed.
“Ensuring affordable and accessible healthcare remains our priority at AHPI, and we continue to advocate for policies that support this goal,” he said.
Prateek Ghosal, Chief of Strategy, Growth & Digital Ujala Cygnus Healthcare Services also said that they any significant increases in healthcare costs for patients is not expected.
“For out-of-pocket patients, medical inflation will be the only main driver. However, with an increased push towards standardization of healthcare costs with the impending discussions between the Ministry of Health and State Governments, patients may seem some rationalisation. On a broader front, I expect the Government of India’s flagship scheme – PMJAY, coverage to increase to include senior citizens from the existing base of 10 million households which will widely benefit the country,” Ghosal told Financial Express.com.
However, private participation towards PMJAY continues to be low, only 25 percent of private hospitals are empanelled with PMJAY and this percent reduces in Metro cities, he revealed.
“An increase in reimbursement rates and smoother payment cycles will ensure greater acceptability within the private sector and therefore more options for patients,” he added.
Need for various policy considerations
In February this year, the apex court had criticised the government for failing to enforce the 14-year-old Clinical Establishment (Central Government) Rules, which are aimed at enforcing standard charges for various medical treatments and procedures.
“Better quality care and increase in infrastructure and input costs of hospitals are likely to push the cost of hospital admission. This burden is further compounded by the rising cost of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and even administrative expenses. However, adoption of advanced technologies can optimize the healthcare cost,” Bhanu Prakash Kalmath S J, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat told Financial Express.com.
Prakash also maintained that focusing on preventive care can bring down the overall healthcare cost of the country.
“Further, policy considerations, such as bringing healthcare under priority lending, categorization of healthcare services under zero rated the Goods and Services Tax (GST) than current exempted category can bring down the healthcare cost. Further coverage of wider population including the ‘missing middle’ under medical insurance scheme with a reasonable premium can bring down the cost of healthcare in the hands of the end user,” he told Financial Express.com.
