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nationwide coverage, would be one way to address the financial hardships faced especially

by the poor and vulnerable population due to ill-health and hospitalization.

As part of its strategy to achieve Universal Health Coverage a nationwide publicly

funded health insurance scheme in the name of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)
was recently launched by the Government of India with the initial target coverage of about

10 crore families with a sum assured of Rs.500,000 per family per year. The coverage is largely

for secondary and tertiary care- and within that prioritizes most hospitalization needs.
National Health Agency (NHA), an autonomous registered society has been recognised as the

nodal agency for implementation of PM-JAY.

Another part of the government strategy to achieve Universal Health Coverage is a

network of 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres, which would be strengthened to delivery

comprehensive and free primary health care.

Challenges

The recent National Health Accounts estimates (2014) reveal that of the total health
expenditures, i.e. Rs.451,286 crores, nearly 28 percent is spent on pharmacies and 25 percent

is spent on services from private hospitals. Implications of this structure of spending on

financing UHC is of critical importance.

A review of the composition of public expenditure reveals that 51 percent is spent on

primary services, 22 percent on secondary care services, 14 percent on tertiary care services
while 10 percent of spent governance and administration. Budgetary allocation to all these

services would need to increase, and much of it would go to infrastructure and human

resources that primary care needs. Optimal utilization of these assets so as to result in better
health outcomes in one of the challenges for India’s progress towards Universal Health

Coverage.

References
1 Government of India (2017), National Health Accounts: Estimates for India 2014-15,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.
2 Government of India (2009), National Health Accounts India: 2004-05, Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.
3 GoI (2017), op.cit.

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