Government spending on health will triple to ₹ 3.85 trillion

India’s public spending on health care has nearly tripled over the past decade, driven by increased government investment as part of a sustained push for universal health insurance.

Government spending on health increased to ₹3.85 trillion in 2022-23 from ₹1.30 trillion in 2013-14, according to the latest National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates released by the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday.

The NHA report showed that government spending on health as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 1.15% in 2013-14 to 1.43% in 2022-23, underscoring increased public investment aimed at improving access to health care and reducing the out-of-pocket burden on individuals and families.

“Over the past 10 years, the efforts of the Union Government, particularly during the Covid pandemic, have been remarkable. To meet the challenge posed by the Covid pandemic, the government has launched the world’s largest Covid vaccination programme. The Union Government has also launched the Emergency Preparedness and Health System Packages (ERCP 1 and 2) to strengthen the public health that the pandemic requires to strengthen the public health that the public health system requires. anonymity.” to this additional government expenditure, government expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP for 2021-22 has been calculated as 1.84% and proportionately out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) has been reduced to 39.4% as a proportion of total health expenditure.”

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The data highlight a sharp increase in the government’s role in health care funding. Government expenditure on health as a share of total health expenditure increased from 28.6% in 2013–14 to 43.7% in 2022–23. This shift underscores the important role of public financing and signals that policy efforts are moving toward a more affordable, fair, and accessible health care system for all, the report added.

For 2022-23, the total health expenditure is estimated at ₹8.81 trillion (3.37% of GDP and ₹6,373 per head). This includes all current and capital expenditure from both public and private sources. As part of government spending on health ( ₹3.85 trillion), the Union Government’s share is about 36.3%, while the State Governments contributed 63.7%, accounting for 4.89% of government expenditure.

Public health experts said that despite the declining share of out-of-pocket spending, health care costs remain high.

“While the decline in out-of-pocket spending as a share of total spending is positive, absolute household costs remain significant as overall health spending and inflation have risen sharply over the decade,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, a public health expert.

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“More critically, nearly 300 to 400 million working-class Indians—such as drivers, gig workers, and shop assistants—constitute the ‘missing middle.’ trends in public health financing,” said Dr. Jayadevan.

“Government Health Expenditure (GHE) Towards National Health Policy (NHP) Objectives 2017. National Health Accounts are time-series data estimated annually on actual expenditure by government, private and all other sources on health. The latest 2022-23 NHA Estimates report is the tenth in a series starting in 2013-14 and provides a powerful framework for understanding and analyzing health expenditure healthcare. The government’s targeted efforts in the healthcare sector are evidenced by the rising trends in government spending on healthcare,” the official quoted earlier said.

According to the report, with a higher share of public expenditure, household out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) has declined significantly from 64.2% of total health expenditure in 2013-14 to 43.4% in 2022-23 ( ₹3,82,629 million crowns). The ministry said the decline reflected the impact of public health and insurance programs aimed at reducing financial stress on families. Spending on private health insurance remained flat ₹81,012 crore (9.19% of government health expenditure).

Current Health Expenditure (CHE) – which covers operational costs excluding capital expenditure – is shared by the Union Government ₹88,721 trillion (11.57%) and the share of state governments is ₹1.63 trillion (21.22%). Households account for 56.44% of current health expenditure (including insurance), businesses 8.84%, NGOs 0.51% and external donors 0.33%.

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Total expenditure on medicines (including prescription, over-the-counter and patient medicines) accounted for 29.6% of current health expenditure, while traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) accounted for 3.5%.

The report states that per capita government spending on health has grown nearly 2.7 times over a decade ₹2,786 from ₹1.042. Government spending on primary health care has also more than doubled in ten years ₹50,000 crore in 2013-14 ₹1.4 trillion in 2022-23.

Social security spending on health care – including spending on schemes like the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana – rose from 6% to 9.9% of total health spending. At the same time, the share of private health insurance increased from 3.4% to 9.2%, indicating higher coverage and better awareness of health care.

NHA estimates describe the flow of funds across the public and private sectors. They are prepared by the NHA Technical Secretariat under the National Health Systems Resource Center (NHSRC) using the globally recognized System of Health Accounts 2011 framework.