Health insurance covers only 27% of citizens

According to a report from the National Health Profile (NHP), only 27% Indians (approximately 35 crores only, have health cover. Resulting in no cover against catastrophic health expenses. “We are committed to advancing the agenda of Universal Health Coverage in the country,” said Health Minister J P Nadda. whille speaking at an event where he launched a mobile application to help health workers in peripheral areas through complicated deliveries. The 2017 NHP report on the CBHI website says: “Around 27% of the total Indian population was covered under any insurance in 2015-16. 77% of them were covered by public insurance companies. Overall 80% of all persons covered with insurance fall under government sponsored schemes… Compared to other countries that have either Universal Health Coverage or moving towards it, India’s per capital public spending on health is low.” In 2014-15, average per capita public health expenditure ranged between Rs 940-2,532, and the highest spend was in the northeastern states and lowest in what are known as the Empowered Action Group states of Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, UP and Uttarakhand. A survey quizzed among 4,156 respondents from Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune highlighted inadequate levels of health protection, as three in four people of these big cities have no  health insurance at all or are covered for less than Rs. 2 lakhs. “The implications are worrying,” said Pankaj Krishna, head of Chrome Data Analytics and Media, a private company that conducted the survey. “The significance of health insurance is not adequately recognised even in some affluent households who should be able to afford it.”