Health Budget 2023: Underlining Universal Health Coverage Target, Experts Seek Quality Healthcare In Rural Areas

Health Budget 2023: Healthcare experts are optimistic of the government bringing provisions in Budget 2023 regarding opening more tertiary care hospitals in remote areas.

Accessibility to quality healthcare has been a big issue in Tier 3 and 4 cities

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Budget 2023: With the healthcare sector in India going through a digital revolution, industry experts hope it would improve accessibility and affordability for Tier 3 and 4 cities and rural areas. Healthcare experts are optimistic of the government bringing provisions in Budget 2023 regarding opening more tertiary care hospitals in remote areas.

The budgetary allocations for health in 2022-23 were nearly 2 per cent of GDP. The industry is hoping that the government would make provisions for spending an extra 0.5 per cent of GDP every year on health for the next five years and encourage private sector investments through tax sops and other incentives.

Anurag Kashyap, Director-Finance and Strategy, TR Life Sciences, highlighted that both capital and operational expenditure had significantly increased for hospitals, having a domino effect on the cost of treatment.

"To overcome this challenge, we are expecting that the government would create an enabling mechanism for credit facilities. Long-term (15-20 years) credit facilities would come as a booster dose for the sector as it would decrease the burden. Interest rate, tenure, and collateral are the major concerns. Easy access to capital at lower rates without collaterals would long way to creating a new healthcare ecosystem in the country," Kashyap further said.

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He also pitched for both structural and tax reforms for both existing and new healthcare projects.

"For new or green field projects a tax holiday period of 10 years, as given to Special Economic Zones and Tech Parks, would go long way to transform the sector," Kashyap said.

Underlining the government's target to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030, Ashim Kumar, Facility Director at Narayana Super Speciality Hospital, Howrah, said efforts are needed to create newer models to improve accessibility, availability, affordability, and quality in rural areas.

"We need out of the box thinking for innovative healthcare models which would keep the cost low and within reach of all income groups with introduction of technology and skilled manpower for reaching clinical excellence. This is imperative to ensure quality healthcare for all," Kumar said.

Another sector experts sought attention in the Budget is Medical Value Travel (MVT), which is witnessing a combined annual growth rate of over 23 per cent.

 Medical tourism in India is estimated to be worth around $ 9 billion. As per official data,  about 2 million patients visit India each year from 78 countries for medical treatments, generating $6 billion for the industry.

According Sugandh Ahluwalia, Chief Strategy Officer, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, "India has emerged as a key destination for medical tourism. Highly experienced doctors combined with world-class facilities, attract millions of overseas patients. It is a huge foreign exchange earner segment. We expect that Union Budget 2023-24 would provide further momentum with fresh incentives to this segment which witnessed a slowdown during the Covid-19 crisis but now recovered."