Page 177 - India Insurance Report 2023- BIMTECH

India Insurance Report - Series II 165

How will Universal Health Coverage

Change India’s Healthcare Landscape:

Patients' / Policyholders' Perspective

- Prof Bejon Kumar Misra
19 International Consumer Policy Expert

“There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s needs but not for everyone’s greed”., said Mahatma
Gandhi. He further went on to say, “Poverty is the worst form of violence. There are people in the
world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. A nation’s greatness is
measured by how it treats its weakest members. They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give
it to them”.
A poor healthcare delivery system leads to poverty and pushes the most vulnerable middle-class
citizens below the poverty line. Several studies have revealed that more than 55 million Indians were
pushed into poverty in a single year because of having to fund their own healthcare by creating a debt or
selling assets. Thirty-eight million out of these fell below the poverty line due to spending on the high
cost of medicines alone. The Indian Constitution under Article 21 guarantees to every citizen a ‘Right to
Life’, and therefore right to health is a fundamental right of every citizen in India. In its wider interpretation
of Article 21, it was held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court that the Right to Health is part and parcel of
the Right to Life and, therefore, one of the fundamental rights provided under the Indian Constitution.
India needs a holistic care system that is universally accessible, affordable and effective, drastically
reducing out-of-pocket spending on health. A call was given in 2016, “India needs to increase its public
investment in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC)”. The 11th Quality Conclave held in
Delhi on August 19/20, 2016, resulted in a consensus among consumer and patient groups from all over
India and a call for further increases in public investment in health care to 5% of the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). This could provide India with a position to ensure access to Universal Health Coverage
and to sustain and improve the quality of care.

The last healthcare policy was in the year 2002, which was redefined in 2017. After 14 years from
the last health policy, the context changed in four major ways. First, the health priorities were changing.
Although maternal and child mortality has rapidly declined, there is a growing burden on account of
non-communicable diseases and some infectious diseases. The second important change is the emergence
of a robust healthcare industry estimated to grow at double-digit. The third change is the growing
incidences of catastrophic expenditure due to health care costs, which are presently estimated to be one
of the major contributors to poverty. Fourth, rising economic growth enables enhanced fiscal capacity.
Therefore, a new health policy responsive to these contextual changes was required.