Healthcare access expands, affordability still a challenge

The National Health Authority recently announced that 90 crore citizens of India now have Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHAs), as part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. This is indeed a milestone worth celebrating as it means that 90 crore citizens now have access to India's universal health coverage scheme.

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Experts hoped that the recently released National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates for India 2022-23 would also reveal some milestones in terms of increase in government spend on healthcare but while the numbers were in the right direction, reality did not live up to expectations. NHA 2022-23 shows that the share of Government Health Expenditure (GHE) in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose from 1.15 per cent in 2013-14 to 1.43 per cent in 2022-23.

As per the new GDP series with base year 2022-23, GHE as per cent of GDP is 1.48 per cent. Similarly, GHE's share in General Government Expenditure (GGE) has increased from 3.78 per cent to 4.89 per cent over the same period, underscoring the growing prioritisation of health in public spending. In per capita terms, GHE has increased nearly 2.7 times, from Rs. 1,042 to Rs. 2,786 between 2013-14 and 2022-23.