Govt per capita spending on health rises 68 per cent in 5 years

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 29

Per capita out-of-pocket expenditure on health has declined marginally from Rs 2,336 to Rs 2,097 over the last five years, reveals the latest report of National Health Accounts released on Monday.

In per capita terms, the government health expenditure has increased from Rs 1,042 to Rs 1,753 between 2013-14 and 2017-18.

“The nature of the increase in the government’s health sector is moving in the right direction as emphasis has been given to primary health care. The share of primary health care in current government health expenditure has increased from 51.1 per cent in 2013-14 to 54.7 per cent  in 2017-18,” the accounts say.

The report of National Health Account Estimates for India for 2017-18 says the share of government health expenditure in total GDP of the country has increased from 1.15 per cent (2013-14) to 1.35 per cent (2017-18).

The share of government health expenditure in total health expenditure increases to 40.8 per cent (2017-18) from 28.6 per cent (2013-14).

“Per capita Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) declined from Rs 2,336 to Rs 2,097 from 2013-14 to 2017-18,” the report says.

That amounts to a decline of 10 per cent in the last five years.

Out of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a share of total health expenditure came down to 48.8 per cent in 2017-18 from 64.2 per cent in 2013-14.

In per capita terms, the government health expenditure has increased from Rs 1,042 to Rs 1,753 between 2013-14 and 2017-18.

The primary and secondary care accounts for more than 80 per cent of the current government health expenditure. There has been an increase in share of primary and secondary care in case of government health expenditure.

In case of private sector, share of tertiary care has increased but primary and secondary care show a declining trend. Between 2016-17 and 2017-18, in government the share of primary and secondary care has increased from 75 per cent to 86 per cent.

In private sector, the share of primary and secondary care has declined from 84 per cent to 74 per cent.

The share of social security expenditure on health, which includes the social health insurance programme, government-financed health insurance schemes, and medical reimbursements made to government employees, has increased. As a per cent of total health expenditure, the increase is from 6 per cent in 2013-14 to around 9 peer cent in 2017-18.

The findings also depict that the foreign aid for health has come down to 0.5 per cent showcasing India’s economic self-reliance.

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