Government-funded health insurance: does coverage mean care?

Mukhopadhyay, Indranil and Chintan, Richa (2026) Government-funded health insurance: does coverage mean care? In: Realising right: a handbook of welfare in India. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, pp. 218-237.

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Abstract

The Indian healthcare system has long faced poor public investment and high out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE). From 2005 onwards, many state governments initiated government-funded health insurance schemes (GFHIs) towards improving access to healthcare and reducing OOPE. This culminated in the launch of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in 2018, a central scheme providing insurance coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per household per year for hospitalisation expenses for the bottom 40 per cent of the population. Existing evidence points to several limitations of GFHIs, including the persistent burden of OOPE, exclusions, induced demand, inequitable access and shift of public resources to the private sector. Given that insurance schemes are rife with market failures, expanding and strengthening the public health system for universal and equitable access to healthcare should be the priority.

Item Type:	Book Section
Authors:	Mukhopadhyay, Indranil and Chintan, Richa
Document Language:	Language English
Subjects:	Social sciences > Social problems & services > Social action Public Health
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > University Publications > Centre for the Study of the Indian Economy (CSIE)
Full Text Status:	Public
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7637
Publisher URL:	https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/

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