More than 90 million Indians spend ‘catastrophic’ 10-25% of household expenses on healthcare

The report indicated that the proportion of households spending between 10-25% of their expenditure on healthcare has shot up between 2017-18 and 2022-23.

Healthcare expenditure of around 90 million Indians has crossed the ‘catastrophic’ levels – a state of financial condition where health spending exceeds 10% threshold of household consumption, posing a threat to maintain the subsistence needs.

The report found that households with more than 10% spends on healthcare have raised from 4.5% to 6.7%. (HT_PRINT)

According to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2023, a total of 31 million people living in families spend more that a quarter of their household expenditure on healthcare. The report indicated that the proportion of households spending between 10-25% of their expenditure on healthcare has shot up between 2017-18 and 2022-23.

Out of total 17 SDGs, the third goal aims at providing universal health coverage along with protection from catastrophic spending. This objective can be achieved by securing access to quality healthcare along with safe, affordable vaccines and medicines for everyone.

The report found that households with more than 10% spends on healthcare have raised from 4.5% to 6.7%. Similarly, families spending over 25% of their expenditures on healthcare have gone up from 1.6% to 2.3%.

Among several states, the maximum proportion of healthcare spending has been recorded in Kerala in 2022-23, with around 16% household spent over 10% of their expenditure and 6% of them spent over 25%. Other states that reported such significant increase in healthcare expenditure include Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana.

According to NITI Aayog's June 2021 report, nearly 400 million Indians (30% of the population) lack any financial protection for health which leads to high out-of-pocket expenditure. The report also estimated that the actual number is likely to be higher due to uncovered population as a result of the existing coverage gaps in the PMJAY scheme.