The government should raise the reimbursement for tertiary care under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) and pump in more funds to increase the hospital bed density in the country, the healthcare industry said on Thursday.
In a pre-Budget meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the industry also suggested that the government subsidise certain adult vaccines and take measures to reduce the regional disparity in terms of the hospital bed availability per 1,000 population.
Girdhar Gyani, director general of the Association of Healthcare Providers of India, said after the meeting, “We have suggested two options — increase the reimbursement rates for tertiary care and let patients pay the charges over and above the PM-JAY reimbursements in certain high-end hospitals.”
The PMJAY, which was rolled out in September 2018, offers Rs 5 lakh-a-year free health cover to 107 million poor households, roughly covering the bottom 40% of the population. However, 85% of tertiary care (specialised treatment) beds are in the private sector, which has flagged to the government about the very low reimbursement rates under the scheme.
The association has also presented data to the government flagging that there are less than two beds per 1,000 population in India compared to the World Health Organization standard of 3.5 beds/1,000 population. Some states like Karnataka have 4.2 beds per 1,000 population, while Bihar has only 0.3 bed, forcing the people of the state to seek healthcare in other states. “The government has to take some steps to address this disparity,” Gyani said.
