'1-time hospitalisation cost is Rs 26,000/person'
New Delhi: In a shocking revelation it has come to the notice that the government is not able to provide affordable treatment facilities to people as the average cost of hospitalisation in the country stands at Rs 26,455, which is almost three times of the monthly income of a person in the country.
According to National Health Profiles released by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, healthcare facilities is very expensive in the states of under-developing states like Assam and Uttarakhand in comparison to developed states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
It may surprise others as the treatment cost in Delhi is very lesser than other states which have funds in abundance. As per the details of medical and non-medical expenditure on hospitalisation, the average cost of hospitalisation in Delhi stands at Rs Rs 7,737, which is lowest among the states providing best healthcare facilities in the country. The highest cost of hospitalisation, which is Rs 52,368 per person per visit, is in Assam – the largest state in the northeastern region.
When it comes to Hindi heartland states, Uttar Pradesh is at the top with cheapest hospitalisation charges followed by Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. The average cost of hospitalisation in UP stands at Rs 13,931, while a person in Jharkhand spends Rs 16,174 for one-time hospitalisation and Madhya Pradesh's average one-time hospitalisation stands at Rs 17,117.
Similarly, a person in Chhattisgarh spends Rs 24,891 on his one-time hospitalisation, while a resident of Bihar spends Rs 28,058 for the same and a patient in Rajasthan has to cough up Rs 31,978 for getting treatment in hospital. In Himachal Pradesh, which is the home state of Health Minister JP Nadda, the average one-time expenditure on hospitalisation is Rs 35,217.
The disturbing fact is that the 75 per cent of the country's population is paying their hospitalisation bills from their household savings, while 18 per cent of the population pay their hospital expenses through borrowings and about 0.4 per cent people sell their assets/properties to pay hospitalisation charges.
Explaining about low cost of hospitalisation in Delhi, a senior Health Ministry official said, "As major hospitals of the Centre and Delhi government such as AIIMS, RML, Safdarjung, GB Pant, LNJP, etc are in the city, so a large number of patients in Delhi get quality treatment at very nominal rate. Despite the fact that private hospitals 'recover' much from patients, the hospitalisation cost at government hospitals is negligible."
As per the National Health Profile, the country is currently spending just above 1 per cent of the GDP on health, which is below than even Singapore which has the lowest public spending on health at 2.2 per cent of GDP among countries with significant universal health coverage (UHC) service.
However, India's per capita public expenditure on health increased from Rs 621 in 2009-10 to Rs 1,112 in 2015-16, which is still 'nominal' in comparison to other countries.
