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Journalism of Courage
The high-level expert group on universal health coverage,set up by the Planning Commission,has suggested issuing all citizens a National Health Entitlement Card to provide essential and standard health services under a proposed National Health Package that envisage five different levels spread across primary,secondary and tertiary levels of health care to every citizen.
The panel,headed by K Srinath Reddy,has suggested subsuming government-funded insurance schemes Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Insurance Scheme under it and broaden the coverage to provide cashless health care to all sections of the society by the end of 13th five-year plan.
However,the projections by the panel indicate that out of pocket private expenditures on health would decline only by less than 7 per cent despite over 400 per cent jump in the public expenditure during this period,assuming that total spending (private and public) on health remains at current level of 4.5 per cent of the GDP even at 2022.
Reddys panel has suggested general taxation as the principal source of finance the proposed five-fold jump in public expenditure on health and recommended removing user fees of all forms to the health services. It has also recommended the government to enhance public expenditure on public procurement of medicines by five times (to 0.5 per cent of the GDP) to provide free essential medicines and undertake procurement of drugs through Drug Supply Logistics Corporations at state and national levels.
The panel has suggested the government should create an Indian Public Health Service cadre with an estimated strength of about ,60,000 lakh personnel to manage this ambitious plan at all three levels of health care.
