PPP model on Public healthcare

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Why in news?

NITI Aayog’s PPP model approach on Public healthcare is misguided.

What are the significance of a privatised system?

• Individualised care is easier in private than in government institutions.
• For high level treatments like surgery where more than one option is available.
• A privatised system can also provide better nursing and allied services.
• It can provide better facilities for attendants and other care-givers.
• Privatisation has helped improve health services

 What are the issues with this approach?

• Privatisation may lead to steep hike in health expenditures like medical consultations, drugs and devices, medical tests and hospitalisation.
• There are complaints over many private health care firms that, they prescribe diagnosis and treatments which patients actually don’t require.
• Monitoring and regulation costs are too high to ensure quality in this sector and this will be doubly problematic in a country like India.
• There is a lack of administrative reform on Public health capacity of the state.
• The information irregularities among patients, doctors, hospitals and the government are too vast.
• This will benefit the private healthcare providers and paves the way for lobbying.

What measures can be taken?

• India committed to raise spending on health to 2.5 per cent of the GDP.
• Instead of implementing private sectors over public health care, government can involve them in few services.
• The elite working classes of the nation has specialised med claim policies provided by the government, such approaches can be followed for public.
• Patients can be given subsidies for the private treatments, based on facilities which are not available in public institutions.

Source: Business Standard