Ahead of the Union Budget 2022 to be presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, the health industry wants the government to give priority to the healthcare sector while increasing public expenditure on the sector. According to leading healthcare providers in the country in the private sector, the government should also consider tax incentives in the budget, up-gradation of medical facilities in small towns and continuing the skilling of the workforce.
increased budget allocation
Various industry stakeholders have demanded an increase in the health budget allocation from 2.5 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent. Last year’s budget announced a 137 percent increase in health care spending to bridge the gap that emerged after the outbreak of the pandemic. Healthcare contributed around 1.8 per cent to GDP in 2021, but the industry would like to increase this further with this budget.
Rationalize and revise the rates of Ayushman Bharat Scheme
The infrastructure of the civil hospital is certainly not sufficient to manage the scheme alone. To ensure the success of the scheme, and to enable more private hospitals to adopt the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the industry expects to rationalize or revise the rates. The government is planning to rationalize the rates of the health benefit package and address the payment issues under the scheme. This will encourage private hospitals to participate in Ayushman Bharat-Jan Arogya Yojana (JAY).
Reduce GST rates on health insurance premium
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought intense focus on the topic of preventive healthcare and asked citizens to protect themselves by purchasing adequate health insurance cover. However, in the backdrop of declining income due to medical exigencies or job loss, many Indians are reducing the coverage of their health insurance policies to save on the premium amount spent. Adding to this alarming trend is the fact that around 30% of the Indian population is still uninsured and you have a dangerous condition that is detrimental to our country’s goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.
Satish Gidugu, CEO and Whole-time Director, MediAssist Healthcare Services, said: “To reverse this course, it is imperative that tax-paying citizens are encouraged to opt for higher health insurance cover, while the government on several of its initiatives The focus is on the bottom 50 per cent of India’s population. Reducing GST rates on health insurance premiums, allowing input credit on GST paid for employee health insurance and fulfilling perquisite tax on employee medical reimbursement There is an opportunity to end this way. This will make a significant impact on the overall adoption of health insurance.”
Reduction in GST rate on medical devices and equipment
The current GST rate on various medical devices, instruments and equipment is 12 per cent. It is recommended that medical devices, instruments and equipment and their parts be brought on par with other preferred products and taxed at a preferential GST rate of 5 per cent to reduce the cost of healthcare services.
other incentives
According to leading healthcare providers in the country in the private sector, the government should also consider tax incentives in the budget, up-gradation of medical facilities in small towns and continuing the skilling of the workforce.
“The government had put health and wellbeing as the first of the six pillars in the Union Budget 2021 and the focus should continue in 2022 as well. Firstly, the outlay for healthcare infrastructure needs to be increased further… The facilities in Tier 2-3 cities need to be equipped with diagnostic centres, ventilators, ICUs, critical care facilities and oxygen plants,” Fortis Healthcare MD & CEO Ashutosh Raghuvanshi.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh news And coronavirus news Here.
,