Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced an outlay of about ₹69,000 crore for the health sector in the 2020-2021 Budget with ₹6,400 crore earmarked for the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme, Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare gets ₹65,011.8 crore up from ₹62,659.12 crore in 2019-20. The Ministry of AYUSH has been allocated ₹2,122.08 crore while there is an allocation of ₹2,100 crore to the Department of Health Research.
Ms. Sitharaman said there are now more than 20,000 empanelled hospitals under the PMJAY.
“We need more in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities for poorer people under this PMJAY scheme. It is proposed to set up Viability Gap funding window for setting up hospitals in the PPP (private-public-partnership) mode. In the first phase, those aspirational districts will be covered, where presently there are no Ayushman empanelled hospitals,” the Minister said.
“This would also provide large scale employment opportunities to youth. Proceeds from taxes on medical devices would be used to support this vital health infrastructure,” she said.
The Finance Minister also announced expansion of the Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme to all districts, offering 2,000 medicines and 300 surgicals by 2024. The government, in order to boost domestic industry and to generate resources for health services, has proposed a nominal health cess of 5% on imports of specified medical equipment. Also Mission Indradhanush has been expanded to cover 12 such diseases, including five new vaccines.
The government has proposed setting up of medical colleges in existing district hospitals under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to address the shortage of qualified doctors.
The Finance Minister said the government will encourage large hospitals with sufficient capacity to offer resident doctors diploma and fellow of National Board (DNB/FNB) courses under the National Board of Examination.
Speaking on the budget the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said: “Budget estimates for the Department for Health and Family Welfare show an appreciable increase of 3.75%, while there has been a 10% hike in the allocation for the Department for Health Research. This indicates the strong focus of the government on the health sector. The Budget has positioned health as a prime mover in the journey of development and growth of the country.’’
Stating that the focus in Budget 2020 is on medical infrastructure, human resources in the health sector, and holistic health and wellness the MInister said: “As part of strengthening the medical infrastructure, the government will support creation of hospitals in those aspirational districts, particularly in the two and three tier cities, which do not have empaneled hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY.’’
“In addition, 6500 projects under National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) include projects of healthcare for all. Also, to address the shortage of qualified doctors (specialist and general practitioners), it is proposed to attach a Medical College with existing District Hospitals in PPP mode. Those States that fully allow the facilities of the hospital to the medical college and wish to provide land at a concession would be able to receive viability gap funding from the Centre,’’ he added.
