Is Ayushmann Bharat a quantum leap in wrong direction?
India ranks poorly at 145 out of 195 countries in Healthcare Access and Quality(HAQ) Index published by Lancet.Its rank is worse than our neighbours like Bangladesh,Srilanka and some of the Sub-Saharan African countries. On one hand, India has emerged as most sought after destination for medical tourism.On the other hand,It has failed to provide essential healthcare to vast majority of its population.Therefore Indian healthcare scenario can be called as islands of California in a sea of Subsaharan Africa. The Ayushmann Bharat(AB) scheme has been introduced to comprehensively address this gap.This will cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families(approximately 50 crore beneficiaries)with coverage upto 5 lakh rupees for secondary and tertiary care.It is a publicly funded private insurance scheme.70 percent of healthcare in India is provided by private sector.This scheme is meant to make that seventy percent cater to poor people through public financing. This scheme has been hailed as ...