‘Mega health plan may cost Rs 1 lakh cr. a year’
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New Delhi: The healthcare plan for the poor announced in the Budget will cost about Rs one lakh crore annually and curtail States’ autonomy in designing their own policies in the sector, said a research paper authored by Assistant Professor Mita Choudhury of economic think tank NIPFP.
“Not only would such a scheme impose a heavy burden on both the Union and the States’ exchequers, it will also curtail States’ autonomy to design their own policies in a sector that is constitutionally mandated to be in their domain,” said the paper.
The paper said that even if a “conservative 2% rate of premium on the insured sum” was assumed, the scheme would cost would be “about Rs one lakh crore annually.”
It further said: “Assuming that 60% of this burden would be borne by the Union Government and the rest passed on to the States, the Union Government would still need to fork out an additional Rs 60,000 annually.”