Healthcare financing: approaches and trends in India

Despite the importance of healthcare for the well-being of society, there is little public debate in India on issues relating to it. The 'human capital approach' to finance healthcare largely relies on private investment in health, while the 'human development approach' envisages the State as the guarantorof preventive as well as curative care to achieve universalization of healthcare. The prevailing health indices of India and challenges in the field of public health require a human developmentapproach to healthcare. On the eve of independence, India adopted the human development approach, with the report of the Bhore Committee emphasizing the role of the State in the development and provision of healthcare. However, more recently, successive governments have moved towards the human capital approach. Instead of increasing state spending on health and expanding the public health infrastructure, the government has been relying more and more on the private sector. The public-private partnership has been touted as the new-age panacea for the ills of the Indian healthcare system. This approach has led to a stagnation of public health indices and a decrease in the access of the poor to healthcare.