Modicare: India's New Healthcare Approach

Back in February of this year, India came out with a new health insurance approach in which they hope to help those who struggle to afford medical care.  The name of this program is ‘Modicare.’

Currently, India possesses around 500 million people who cannot afford healthcare, and spends a little over 1% of its GDP on public healthcare.  For comparison, the United States spends about 18% of its GDP on healthcare based on https://www.cms.gov.  Also, India’s private healthcare system currently runs mostly unchecked, often leaving the poor easily exploitable and forced to face an environment full of hostility.  Because of these issues, this proposal is suspected to be popular among rural voters. According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of India this idea “will be the world's largest government-funded healthcare programme."  However, it is unclear as to where the government will find enough funds for this program currently, and people are unsure as to how the hospitals will change from their rather immoral reputations.

The announcement of this program came hand in hand with India’s annual budget.  The goal of this budget was to improve growth before the upcoming general election.  At the moment, the winners of this budget are viewed as the poor farmers and villagers in rural areas.  The Indian government is hopeful that this plan will promote and improve local manufacturing in India with companies like Apple and Android.  However, these companies will need to provide more money to open more manufacturing units in order to avoid being put at a disadvantage.

Today, September 23rd 2018, a video was released providing more information in regards to India’s new healthcare scheme.  This is coming as a result of the first birth covered by Modicare at a state hospital. The video provides statistics on who will receive funding and how much they will receive.  And while the benefits of this program are formed with good intentions, the video provides suspicion for fraud and issues concerning costs amongst doctors.

While it is encouraging and inspiring to witness the people that this scheme is aiding, it still has many flaws that have yet to be fully addressed.  And while it is difficult to predict the full outcome of Modicare, one can only hope to see India further progress towards a better healthcare system that will inherently provide for people of all walks of life.  

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-45603732/will-modicare-be-a-success-in-india