The healthcare sector has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s announcement in his Independence Day address that the Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Abhiyaan, also known as Ayushman Bharat or the National Health
Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), will be launched on September 25.

The government-sponsored
health insurance scheme will provide free coverage of up to ₹5 lakh a family a
year in any government or even empanelled private hospitals all over India.
Meant to help the poor and the economically deprived, the scheme will be available
for 10.74 crore beneficiary families and about 50 crore Indian citizens.

Healthcare experts said Ayushman Bharat was an attempt to ensure
that universal healthcare reached the weaker sections of society and it could
raise the ratio of people availing primary and secondary healthcare.

“It is really good to see
that the government is actively working on rolling out the policy on the
ground. The government has made this a technology-driven initiative, which is a
great step to ensure transparency and effective implementation, and at a
grander scale, this initiative would encourage more work in development of
overall health infrastructure in the country,” said Sanjeev Gupta of the Kusum
Group of Companies, a pharmaceutical organisation.

“We welcome these steps taken
by the government as growing healthcare infrastructure in the country will help
50 crore poor people access medicines and essential drugs. What we look forward
from the government is a mechanism which encourages public private partnership
while ensuring that quality medicines reach the masses.”

Rana Mehta, partner and
leader healthcare, PwC, India, said that besides addressing the challenges of
geographic inaccessibility and unaffordability, Ayushman Bharat had the
potential of creating a cost-effective digitalised health economy and
catapulting India to the league of developed nations.

B.S. Ajai Kumar, founder
chairman, HCG Hospitals, said: “Today, nearly 80% of the healthcare in India is
provided by the private healthcare system and in order to meet the burgeoning
healthcare needs of Indian population through value-based medicine, the country
needs a synchronised effort by both private and public sector.’’

“But the current framework of
the scheme will not be beneficial for people who need tertiary care as the
remunerations under the scheme will not be sufficient to avail value-based
healthcare. Under the scheme, tertiary healthcare service providers will be
forced to cut cost at every level, which will lead to offering a sub-standard
healthcare to patients under the scheme. They may not be able to avail the
necessary medication, technology and clinical expertise to get the best outcome
and will soon lose confidence in the system,” Dr. Kumar said.

The healthcare sector has
noted that the government should look at mandatory universal health cover for
all sections of society which will increase the pool and allow cross-subsidy
between the government and the private sector.