The finance minister has presented the budget for 2019-20 on Saturday. This time, on the positive side, the government is trying to expand the affordability of healthcare in the country. Here are the key points from the budget, which can bring some changes in the health sector.

• ₹6,400 crore allocated for the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme, Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). At present, there are about more than 20,000 empanelled hospitals under the PMJAY.
• An allocation of Rs 2,100 crore to the Department of Health Research in 2020-21.
• The Ministry of AYUSH has been allocated Rs 2,122.08 crore for the next fiscal.
• The government is proposing to set up a Viability Gap funding window for setting up hospitals in the PPP (private-public-partnership) mode. 
• Expansion of the Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme to all districts, offering 2,000 medicines and 300 surgicals by 2024.
• The minister also proposed to impose a nominal health cess, by way of a duty of customs, on the imports of medical equipment, with the view that these goods are now being made significantly in India. 
• 6500 projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) include projects of healthcare for all. 
• Affordability of healthcare in the country through an emphasis on the eradication of tuberculosis (TB) by 2025.
• Mission Indradhanush to cover 12 more diseases, including five new vaccines. 

To sum up, the minister announced an outlay of about Rs 69,000 crore for the health sector in 2020-2021 fiscal. But, though attracting foreign investments and ‘Make in India’ will be good for the country for a long-term, the announcements such as additional import duties on medical devices and equipment will increase the costs for the consumers and put more margin pressures on companies and hospitals. Also, if the government wants to build high-quality healthcare infrastructure, and better accessibility and affordability of healthcare facilities, there’s much more to do. There’s a long way to go for attaining 2.5% of GDP by 2025 from about 1% currently. It’s high time to decide whether the current allocations are enough or not to reach the goal of healthcare to all! 

Source: The Hindu, Firstpost, NDTV, Deccan Herald

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