Rohit Shishodia 
Despite the Indian government’s efforts to give a boost to the health care services, affordable treatment for the common man still seems a goal too far. When in need of urgent medical care, in desperation the poor have no option but to borrow the money from relatives, which puts an economic burden on them.

Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Faggan Singh Kulaste informed Lok Sabha, the lower House of Indian Parliament, that as per the recent 71st round of National Sample Survey in 2014, as many as 25% people in rural and 18% in urban areas depended on borrowing for meeting their hospital expenses for treating illness.

The minister informed that the report also indicates that 3% of households seeking outpatient care (reference period of 15 days) reported borrowings as the major source of finance for meeting the medical expenditure.

There is also a major disparity between the cost of government and private treatment. The minister said that that the average expenditure per hospitalized treatment is Rs.7,193 in public health facility as against Rs. 23,992 in a private facility in rural areas.

“In urban areas, the average expenditure per hospitalized treatment is Rs.9043 in public health facility and Rs.34662 in private facility. The average medical expenditure per child birth is Rs 749 in a public facility as against Rs 6974 in private facility in rural areas. The average medical expenditure per child birth is Rs 948 in a public facility as against Rs 9106 in a private facility in urban areas,” explained Mr Kulaste.

The minister said that providing affordable treatment is the responsibility of the states. He pointed out that public health is a state subject and, hence, the primary responsibility to provide medical facilities to poor people at affordable rates lie with the state /UT Governments. Under the National Health Mission, support is provided to States/UTs for strengthening their health care system for provision of accessible, affordable and quality health care to all the citizens.

“In addition, under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), cashless benefit up to Rs. 30,000 per annum per family for specified hospitalization procedures is available to all BPL population and eleven other categories of vulnerable population groups,” said the minister.