New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) India has registered substantial progress towards making healthcare more affordable and reducing the financial burden on households, with government health expenditure tripling and the share of out-of-pocket expenditure borne directly by families declining sharply over the past 10 years, according to a factsheet issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.
Between 2013-14 and 2023–24, the government’s expenditure on health increased from approximately Rs 1.30 lakh crore to Rs 4.14 lakh crore, while out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of total health expenditure declined sharply from 64.2 per cent to 42.7 per cent.
The simultaneous increase in public healthcare financing and decline in the proportion of spending borne directly by households reflects India's progress towards a more accessible, affordable and financially protective healthcare system, the factsheet stated.
The findings also underscore the government's sustained efforts, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to strengthen public healthcare, provide comprehensive primary healthcare, expand financial protection, improve access to essential medicines and diagnostics, and bring quality healthcare services closer to communities.
This represents an important structural shift in healthcare financing, with a substantially lower proportion of total healthcare expenditure being financed through direct payments by households.
The sustained downward trend reflects the expanding role of government-supported healthcare services and financial protection mechanisms. Initiatives aimed at improving access to free and affordable treatment, medicines, diagnostics and hospital services are supporting efforts to reduce dependence on direct household spending.
This growing contribution signifies a major shift in the country's healthcare financing pattern, with public resources playing a considerably larger role in meeting healthcare expenditure.
The increase in government health expenditure has been accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the share of household out-of-pocket payments, reinforcing the importance of sustained public investment in improving healthcare affordability.
The figures also show that there has been a substantial increase in public healthcare expenditure on a per capita basis. Per capita government health expenditure increased from Rs 1,042 in 2013-14 to Rs 2,959 in 2023–24, representing an increase of approximately 2.8 times.
