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Financing for Health Coverage in India:Issues and Concerns

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  • Indrani Gupta
  • Samik Chowdhury

    (Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi)

Abstract

The paper explores the trends, composition, and incidence of out-of-pocket health expenditure (OOPHE) in India, which has been the predominant means of financing its health care needs. Unit-level data from the National Sample Survey on Household Consumer Expenditure for the years 1993–94, 2004–05, and 2011–12 are used. Results show that the burden of OOPHE has increased steadily over time, but more for the lower economic quintiles. Drugs remain the major component of OOPHE, but their share has declined over the years. Expenditure on diagnostics and non-medical items increased sharply, especially for in-patient care. The latter period, i.e., 2004–05 to 2011–12, has been relatively more regressive. Higher growth of diagnostics and other expenditures, especially at institutions, points toward the possibility of supplier-induced demand. The income effect may also have had some role in the increase in the share of OOPS in the total expenditure of households. Any design of a universal health coverage scheme must take these results into consideration—not only in the specifics of a package, but also around regulation and quality of health services

Suggested Citation

  • Indrani Gupta & Samik Chowdhury, 2015. "Financing for Health Coverage in India:Issues and Concerns," IEG Working Papers 346, Institute of Economic Growth.
    • Handle: RePEc:awe:wpaper:346
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Muttur Ranganathan, Narayana, 2016. "Will a Universal Health Coverage Policy be fiscally sustainable for India? New evidence and implications," MPRA Paper 69668, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Mundle, Sudipto, 2018. "Development of Education and Health Services in Asia and the Role of the State," Working Papers 18/239, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    3. Muttur Ranganathan Narayana, 2016. "India’s Proposed Universal Health Coverage Policy: Evidence for Age Structure Transition Effect and Fiscal Sustainability," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 673-690, December.
    4. Laishram Ladusingh & Sanjay Kumar Mohanty & Melody Thangjam, 2018. "Triple burden of disease and out of pocket healthcare expenditure of women in India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, May.
    5. Das, Nimai, 2016. "Federal Fiscal Transfers on Health: Implications of Fourteenth Finance Commission Recommendations at Subnational Level," MPRA Paper 79627, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household; Out-of-Pocket; Health; National Sample Survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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