Budgetary Subsidies to Health Sector Among Selected States in India

• Completion date जनवरी., 2001
• Sponsor NIPFP
• Project leader V. Selvaraju
• Focus

  This paper attempts to estimate and analyse the extent of budgetary subsidies in health sector during 1985-86, 1991-92 and 1998-99 covering six major states in India. The analysis suggests that the budgetary allocations to health sector has been declining while at the same time the cost of treatments for households has been increasing as evidenced by the two surveys of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). However, the real per­capita subsidies to health sector recorded a substantial increase during 1985-86 and 1998­99. Of the total subsidies, subsidy on merit health services accounted for less than 25 per cent only, except in Maharashtra. There is no substantial evidence for the positive relationship between budgetary spending or subsidies and health status indicators. But the complementary nature of budgetary spending and the household spending on health warrants for an increasing role of the governments in health sector in order to improve the levels of health care consumption.