J&K most generous contributor to people's healthcare expenditures: Report
Srinagar, Mar 20: The recently tabled ‘Demand for Grants 2025-26 Analysis Health and Family Welfare’ report tabled by PRS Legislative Research shows the broader impact of health insurance schemes on reducing the out-of-pocket expenses of people in J&K. The healthcare expenditure funded by the Government stands at 71 percent of the total in J&K, the highest among all states and Union Territories, says the report.
In the section of the report titled ‘Government Health Expenditure as a share of overall health expenditure in certain states’, J&K Government’s spending on healthcare has increased steadily. In 2014-15, the Government’s share in healthcare expenditures was 35 percent. This increased slightly 2015-16 to 40 percent and dipped to 39 percent in 2016-17. In 2017-18 upto 2019-20, the share remained around 50 percent - of the expenditures on healthcare, around half remained out-of-pocket. In 2020-21, the Government share jumped to 65 percent, and in 2021-22, it rose to 71 percent of the total. Among the states and UTs chosen for analysis by the Parliamentary Committee, J&K Government has the highest share in the healthcare expenditures of J&K. The All-India average for 2021-22 is 48 percent, which is also a significant rise from 29 percent in 2014-15. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Maharashtra are among the states where Government share in healthcare expenditures is the lowest. Uttarakhand and Assam have state share in healthcare expenditures comparable to J&K.
J&K Government started the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT Scheme in the last leg of 2020, the scheme providing a healthcare insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to every resident family here. As per the Ayushman Bharat website, 20 lakh families have been covered under the scheme. The last official figure of treatment benefits provided to residents of J&K stood at a whopping Rs 2285 crore. The parliamentary report also shows how the Government sector is the mainstay for seeking treatment in J&K. In its section, share of hospitalisation cases (excluding childbirth) by type of hospital in 2017-18, the public health sector served 91 percent people, while private sector served 8 percent cases. The remaining 1 percent was the share of charitable trusts, NGOs etc. This share of Government as the main provider of healthcare is also a special feature of healthcare delivery in J&K. Only north-eastern states of Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have such a high dependence on Government hospitals in India.
The J&K Government has recently made changes to SEHAT Scheme, in its attempt to streamline it. The Government also announced that it is in the process of framing Healthcare Investment Policy (HCIP) to enhance private investment in the sector.
