New Delhi: The burden on Indian families paying for healthcare from their pockets has eased significantly over the past decade, with out-of-pocket expenditure falling to 43.4% of total health spending in 2022-23 from 64.2% in 2013-14, according to government data released on Wednesday.The National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates for 2022-23, released by the Union Health Ministry, show that a near 21 percentage point drop in out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) over ten years has been driven largely by the government steadily spending more on public health, it said.Also read: India medical tourism market feels the weight of Iran war“Reducing the burden of OOPE on households has been a key priority for the government, pursued through various health schemes,” the health ministry said.According to the data public health spending has grown consistently since 2013-14. Government Health Expenditure (GHE) as a share of GDP rose from 1.15% in 2013-2014 to 1.43% in 2022-23.“As per the new GDP series with base year 2022-2023, GHE as % of GDP is 1.48% over the same period. Similarly GHE’s share in general government expenditure has increased from 3.78% to 4.89% over the same period,” it said.In per capita terms what the government spends on each person’s health has grown 2.7 times, from Rs 1,042 to Rs 2,786 over the decade.The government’s share of total health expenditure has also crossed a landmark threshold, rising from 28.6% in 2013-14 to 43.7% in 2022-23.In 2021-22, government health expenditure surged to 1.84% of GDP as the Centre funded emergency Covid response packages and the world’s largest vaccination drive. That year, out-of-pocket spending’s share of total health expenditure dipped to a record low of 39.4%. The figure has since settled at 43.4% as pandemic-era spending normalised.The data also points to a wider health financing safety net. Social Security Expenditure covering government health insurance, employee medical reimbursements, and social health insurance programmes grew from 6% to 9.9% of total health expenditure between 2013-14 and 2022-23, the government said.Private health insurance has more than doubled its share, from 3.4% to 9.2%, driven by rising awareness after Covid and growing household incomes.The NHA 2022-23 is the tenth such report prepared by the National Health Accounts Technical Secretariat under the National Health Systems Resource Centre, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India's out-of-pocket healthcare spending drops significantly, govt data shows
Indian families now pay less for healthcare. Out-of-pocket spending fell from 64.2% to 43.4% in ten years. This is due to the government spending more on public health. Government health expenditure as a share of GDP has also increased. Per capita spending on health has grown significantly. This shows a stronger health financing safety net for citizens.
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