Indian Covid-19 patients rest on beds at an indoor sports stadium, temporarily been converted into an emergency Covid 19 care center, as India crossed 10 million Covid-19 cases, becoming the second nation in the world after the US to reach the grim milestone, on December 19, 2020 in Delhi, India
Image: Yawar Nazir/Getty Images
The Union Budget on February 1, being presented in the shadow of the pandemic, is bound to have a strong health focus, given that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to present a roadmap for vaccinations against the coronavirus and strengthening of overall health infrastructure, while also indicating how much the government actually spent for tackling Covid-19 in the fiscal year 2020-21.
India Business News: Covid-19 pandemic has brought healthcare centre stage, highlighting how a health crisis can become a major economic and social challenge, the Economic
Insurance And Health Indicators: How West Bengal Suffered For Not Implementing PM-JAY While Neighbours Marched Ahead
by Swarajya Staff - Jan 30, 2021 08:45 AM
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Snapshot
As per the Economic Survey 2020-21, the proportion of households with health insurance increased in Assam, Bihar and Sikkim by 89 per cent while it decreased by 12 per cent in West Bengal between 2015-16 to 2019-20.
Prime Minister Narendra Modiâs pet project Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) which was launched in 2018 to expand healthcare access to Indiaâs poor has helped achieve strong healthcare outcomes in states which implemented the scheme, an analysis in the 2020-21 Economic Survey shows.
It observed that India has one of the highest levels of OOPE in the world, contributing directly to the high incidence of catastrophic expenditures and poverty.
Economic Survey 2021: PM-JAY improved health insurance coverage by 54% for states
The survey said health insurance claims for dialysis did not diminish due to COVID-19 or lockdown in March-April 2020 even though there was a steep fall in claims of other categories. January 29, 2021 / 04:48 PM IST
The Economic Survey 2020-21 said the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) is being used for high frequency but low-cost care such as dialysis.
PMJAY is a fully-funded government health insurance scheme that provides Rs 5 lakh medical insurance coverage per year for 107.4 million families identified as per the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011.
The survey said PM-JAY enhanced health insurance coverage. Across all the states, it said the proportion of households with health insurance increased by 54 percent for the states that implemented PM-JAY while falling by 10 percent in states that did not.