Economic Survey: Ayushman Bharat Brought Down Out Of Pocket Health Expenditure, Saved Over Rs 1.25 Lakh Crore Till January 2024

In what is being seen as an encouraging sign on the healthcare front, data from the Economic Survery 2023-24 has shown that the share of government expenditure on health as a part of the total expenditure on health has grown from 28.6 per cent in 2013-14 to to 41.4 per cent in 2019-20.

The out of pocket health expenditure has thus shown a decline from a 64.2 per cent to 47.1 per cent in the corresponding period.

The social security spending on health, ie, health related government schemes and insurance has gone up from 5.7 per cent in 2014-15 to 9.3 per cent in 2019-20.

Among the positive impacts of these are the decrease in infant mortality rates, maternal mortality rates and a decrease in non-performing assets (NPAs).

While the infant mortality rate reduced from 39 in 2013 to 28 in 2020 (per lakh live births), the maternal mortality rate reduced from 167 in 2013 to 97 in 2020 (per lakh live births).

The survey also quantifies the impact of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)-Ayushman Bharat Yojana and states that beneficiaries would have had to spend 1.5 to 2 times more if they were not covered under the scheme and that the savings on out of pocket expenditure amounted to over Rs 1.25 lakh crore as of 12 January 2024.

When it comes to the impact on borrowings, a study showed that areas where PM-JAY had been implemented saw a decrease of 3.7 to 4 per cent in NPAs compared to those where the scheme was not implemented.