National Health Insurance Essential For Healthcare Financing

KOLKATA, February 19, 2014: A single payer National Health Insurance should be a vital component of Healthcare financing in India as per the suggestion given by an Indian socio-economic think tank, Kolkata. The state of health services in India is deliberated by a three-day workshop of the group which is attended by 50 participants from varied walks of life and chaired by Noble laureate Amartya sen.  

The extensions of bureaucratic “red tape” to health care system in the form of opening private investment had not given desired results though economic reforms have loosened it. According to Sen, in health care system, intervention of private investments has undermined the goal and distorted the end result.

Government is actively engaged particularly in the basic health care which can't be ignored. Sen pointed out the key role played by the governments from Japan to Bangladesh in health care delivery.

Inadequate allocation

The public subsidization of expensive health care which is recently introduced could be both injurious and wasteful to the health of patients without guidance from primary care doctors and assessing the exact medical need. Within an integrated healthcare system, the Rashtriya Swasthya Beema Yojana should be incorporated as per the group.