Ayushman scheme- Patients to give feedback on treatment, hospitals
In a step towards making the Ayushman Yojana more transparent the State Health Agency (SHA) has decided to provide the information regarding the expenses incurred in the treatment of the beneficiaries of the scheme. The beneficiaries would also give feedback on their treatment. The SHA has issued a directive to all the hospitals in this regard.
It is pertinent to mention here that in the recent programme organised to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Ayushman Yojana, the Health minister Dhan Singh Rawat had directed the officers of the SHA to make the scheme more transparent and effective for public welfare.
The SHA has asked the hospitals to submit a proof that they have done free treatment of the patient under the scheme and no money was taken from the patient for tests, surgery and medicines during his stay in the hospital. The patients would be informed about the money remaining out of the five lakh per year in their card.
INTERNATIONAL
China has cornered 43% of global business , India under 0.5%’
To promote wood industry in Uttar Pradesh, senior officials of state government along with cabinet minister (industrial development) Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi on Tuesday conducted a meeting with key stakeholders.
Pointing out the massive growth achieved by Chinese government in medium-density fibrebroad (MDF), the stakeholders highlighted that China has cornered 43% of global business while India is under 0.5% at present.
The private industry stakeholders urged the government to promote agro forestry in the state to increase the income of the farmers.
NATIONAL
‘70% dists have maternal mortality above UN goals’
India’s maternal deaths to district-level precision, and found 70% of the 640 districts are “hot spots” reporting higher pregnancy-related deaths than the UN development goals.
Researchers from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, analysed 61.98 million live births and 61,169 maternal deaths reported between 2017 and 2020, said a paper published in PLOS Global Public Health on Tuesday. (As Census 2011 data was used, only 640 districts were considered against 773 in 2022).
Maternal mortality rate refers to deaths due to complications from childbirth or pregnancy per 1 lakh live births. The MMR under UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 is 70.
The IIPS study found Arunachal Pradesh — and not Assam as per the government surveys — has the country’s highest MMR of 284, while Maharashtra reported the lowest (40). Five states have MMR greater than or equal to 210. Tirap district in Arunachal has the highest MMR, while Kinnaur in Himachal has the lowest.
High per capita health spend needed, but that alone isn’t enough: Data
States with the least per capita spend — Bihar, MP and Assam in that order — have very poor health indices, which underlines that spending is necessary, but Bihar does better on most indices than many states with higher levels of spending, showing that spending alone is not sufficient. This data was culled out of the recently-released National Health Accounts for 2018-19.
It shows that often where total health expenditure is high, the bulk is borne by people out of their own pockets, as in Kerala and Maharashtra. However, in Himachal and J&K, the government accounts for more than half the total spending on health and 47% in Tamil Nadu too.
The government’s share in total health spending was highest in Uttarakhand at 61% and Assam at over 55%. It was lowest in UP and Kerala at about 25%. In 2004-05, the government accounted for just 9.7% of the spending in Kerala and 13% in UP. While those shares have risen significantly, people in these states, as also in West Bengal, continue to shoulder most of the burden of healthcare. This has been the case since 2004-05, the earliest year for which the National Health Accounts (NHA) are available.
Maharashtra, the third biggest spender on health after Kerala and Himachal Pradesh in per capita terms, also had the government accounting for barely 27% of this expenditure. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu, which has health indices similar to Maharashtra, spends much less per capita. Moreover, the government share of the total health spend expanded from just 18% in 2004-05 to almost 47% in 2018-19, thus reducing the burden on the people.
Almost all states have increased public spending on health from abysmal levels in 2004-05, with a significant jump between NHA of 2014-15 and 2018-19. Assam had the highest jump in share of public spending in the total health expenditure between 2004-05 and 2018. J&K saw the lowest increase in this period. Jharkhand and Karnataka too showed increases of 2.5 percentage points and six percentage points, respectively.
The total health expenditure has three components—government spending, people spending out of pocket and the third is a combination of private health insurance, expenditures by enterprises, not-for-profit institutions or NGOs and external sources or funds from outside India.
