New Delhi: Elders may get a gift in the first budget of Modi 3.0 government. Sources claim that preparations are on to fulfil the election promise in the first budget itself, in which elderly people above 70 years of age will be given health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh by bringing them under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. About four crore people will benefit from this.
If sources are to be believed, this time the health budget is expected to increase significantly and it can cross the figure of one lakh crore rupees. In the interim budget presented in February, an allocation of 90 thousand crores was made in this item, which is about two percent of the total budget.
Apart from increasing the coverage of health insurance under Ayushman Bharat, the main focus of the health budget is likely to be on implementation of the cervical cancer vaccination scheme for adolescent girls announced in the interim budget, vaccination of children of migrant workers who are left out of vaccination, One Health, medical education and health research.
Apart from this, a new scheme can also be announced to increase the scope of coverage of mental health. The government has started a digital mental health program but it needs to be made effective on the ground. Especially the lack of resources needs to be overcome. Currently, only one percent of the total health budget, i.e. about 900 crores, is spent on mental health, which is very low. There is pressure from experts to increase it. This amount can be increased.
It is also important to note here that health experts are demanding to increase the health budget to three percent of GDP. At present, the combined health expenditure of the Centre and the states is close to two percent of GDP. The National Health Policy 2017 talks about taking it to 2.5 percent by 2025. Therefore, there will be pressure on the Centre and the states to increase the allocation to achieve this target in this year and the next budget.
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