To achieve universal health care (UCH)) in 10 years, the Government will have to play a dominant role, but private sector participation is inevitable, says a report by Ernst & Young.
The report estimates total spending by the country on UCH at 5.5-6 per cent of gross domestic product, including out-of-pocket expenditure. Of this, the Government would need to spend 3.7-4 per cent of GDP on the UCH programme if it is to cover the entire population by 2022, says the report, released at a FICCI event here on Tuesday.
Pitching for greater private role, the report cites the example of China, which has covered 84 per cent of its population under UCH. The country spends 5.1 per cent of its GDP on healthcare, of which the Government accounts for 2.7 per cent.
Dealing with the financing aspect of UCH, the report pitches for private-public partnerships in primary care and infrastructure, medical education and training among others.
The report calls for incentives for PPPs in areas such as mass screening and detection schemes, access to technology such as remote health and telemedicine in the face of lack of physical infrastructure and medical education.
“Medical colleges need to be opened in States with relatively lower number of seats, such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,” it says.
Seeking infrastructure status for healthcare, the report suggests that funds should be collected centrally through general taxation, such as cess and surcharges. Also, user charges should be levied, with exemption to specific groups such as like below poverty line families.
Since health is a State subject, the report suggests pooling of funds at the national level and allocation to States in alignment with their income and risk profiles.
On insurance policies, the report suggests a competitive bidding process to select agencies that “may or may not be State-specific.”