New Delhi, 27 May (H.S.): The central government on Wednesday released the National Health Accounts (NHA) 2022–23 report for India. According to the report, public expenditure on health has risen substantially over the past decade, while out‑of‑pocket spending on treatment by households has steadily declined.

The report, issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, states that between 2013–14 and 2022–23, government health expenditure (GHE) tripled from Rs 1.30 lakh crore to Rs 3.85 lakh crore. Over the same period, the share of government health spending in gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 1.15 percent to 1.43 percent. Based on the new GDP series, this share is reported at 1.48 percent.

The report further notes that the government’s share in total health expenditure (THE) has also risen continuously. It was 28.6 percent in 2013–14 and grew to 43.7 percent in 2022–23. Meanwhile, out‑of‑pocket expenditure (OOPE) by households fell from 64.2 percent to 43.4 percent.

The Health Ministry said that schemes such as Ayushman Bharat — Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB‑PMJAY), social health insurance programmes and efforts toward universal health coverage have reduced the financial burden on people.

The report also highlights that during the COVID‑19 pandemic the government made additional investments in the health sector. In 2021–22, government health expenditure reached 1.84 percent of GDP. This included emergency COVID response packages and spending on the world’s largest COVID vaccination campaign. During this period, out‑of‑pocket spending by households fell to 39.4 percent.

There has also been a notable increase in social‑protection‑based health expenditure. Its share in total health expenditure rose from 6 percent in 2013–14 to 9.9 percent in 2022–23. The share of private health insurance similarly increased from 3.4 percent to 9.2 percent.

Government spending on primary health services more than doubled. Expenditure on primary health services was Rs 0.5 lakh crore in 2013–14 and rose to Rs 1.4 lakh crore in 2022–23.

The report indicates that per‑capita government health expenditure increased by about 2.7 times, from Rs 1,042 in 2013–14 to Rs 2,786 in 2022–23.

The National Health Accounts report has been prepared by the National Health System Resource Centre (NHSRC) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The report assesses trends in public and private spending in the health sector.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar