Now Reading: Parliamentary panel urges low-cost health insurance for middle class
-
01
Parliamentary panel urges low-cost health insurance for middle class
A parliamentary standing committee, as reported by siasat.com, has recommended expanding low-cost standardised health insurance products for the middle-income class. In its report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on August 7, the…
The Story in Brief
A parliamentary standing committee, as reported by siasat.com, has recommended expanding low-cost standardised health insurance products for the middle-income class. In its report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on August 7, the panel pushed for products like Aarogya Sanjeevani with simplified terms, transparent treatment packages across all providers, and a statutory mechanism to periodically revise package rates considering regional economic variations.
The committee flagged that average out-of-pocket expenditure per hospitalisation stands at Rs 34,064, with medical inflation at 10-13 per cent compounding the burden. It recommended increasing state health allocations to at least 8 per cent of aggregate expenditure, expanding Jan Aushadhi Kendras, and integrating private providers into the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to improve access and reduce costs.
The Indian Opinion
The middle class often gets squeezed between free public schemes and expensive private care. This panel has rightly called for affordable insurance and cost caps, but the real test is implementation. The report shows progress, out-of-pocket spending fell from 62.6 per cent to 43.4 per cent in eight years. Yet with a typical hospital stay costing over Rs 34,000, many families are one illness away from debt. Will the government enforce standardised package rates and link them to inflation? That will tell us if this is more than another recommendation.
Source: siasat.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
