Healthcare still waiting for its share of Budget Pie

Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group:  A forward-thinking budget with a definitive vision to accelerate much greater progress and enhance wellbeing of Indians, the allocation of Rs. 6400 crores for Ayushman Bharat is very welcome. Now it is paramount, that India ramps up its efforts to arrest the upsurge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are increasing like an epidemic. The morbidity and mortality due to Diabetes and increasing prevalence of Cancers are very concerning.  9 out of 10 deaths due to NCDs can be prevented by awareness and early screening.  I commend the Government for the budget recommendation. The endeavors and efforts that the Government of India has embarked upon will make our nation healthier and a model for the world to emulate. Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman & Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare : One interesting highlight in the Interim Budget is the vision for ‘Healthy India’ by building a distress free, functional and comprehensive healthcare and wellness system by 2030. With the launch of Ayushman Bharat, wherein  Rs3000 crores have been allocated, I believe we are moving in the right direction.With the proposal for Digital India, the government is keen on converting 1 lakh villages of India into digital villages. The focus is on reducing the urban-rural gap through best in class infrastructure. We are hopeful that this will eventually result in reducing the urban-rural gap in healthcare delivery. Another remarkable announcement by Finance Minister was emphasis on technology-driven growth and setting up National Artificial Intelligence (AI) portal to be set up soon. We are hopeful that this will further benefit the healthcare sector with introduction of AI for better detection and treatment areas. What we missed in this budget is the increase in budget pie for healthcare. We are hopeful that the government in the long run will certainly take a step further on this. Ganesh Sabat, CEO, SMT: Budget 2019 is an interim budget benefiting mostly middle class, farmers and tax payers.  Regarding healthcare we expected larger spends on Ayushman Bharat but the current increase is insufficient . Refreshing to see Government talking about artificial intelligence (AI). AI is expected to revolutionize healthcare and hopefully Government will focus extensively in this field. There is no beneficiary scheme for the local manufacturers of medical device whereas Government wants to reduce healthcare cost in India. Overall a budget on the expected line of election year. Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director, India and Neighbouring Markets, Roche Diagnostics India: The Union Budget 2019 speech this morning clearly spelled out the Central Government's scale-up in healthcare initiatives over the past few years. This is encouraging as this focus helps augment and strengthen health access across India.

While establishing access through healthcare infrastructures like hospitals and medical colleges is great, focused and planned expenditure on improving participation from the public in preventive healthcare at these hospitals through awareness programmes is important. With the announcement of ambitious projects like Ayushman Bharat last year, expectations were high for the 2019 Budgetary recommendations on healthcare. Some inclusions on outpatient care and diagnostics would have been great. We would have liked to see in this Budget a roadmap for healthcare development programmes announced last year to be implemented seamlessly across the country. Anurag Yadav, Chief Financial Officer, Parkway Pantai - India Operations Division: Interim Budget 2019 has continued commitment on the free health coverage to being continued for about 50 crore Indians under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. It was also mentioned in the budget that the prices of medicines have come down with the control of drugs, stents, and knee implant prices. The government reiterated its vision of creating a healthy India, with distress-free and comprehensive wellness system for all. Under the government’s India 2030 vision, the ninth and tenth dimensions focus will be on healthy India and a comprehensive wellness system, respectively. It remains to be seen how this will help the healthcare industry to grow and the overall development of health eco system. Gautam Khanna, CEO of P.D. Hinduja Hospital & MRC: Overall, the budget is growth oriented and pro-farmer and pro-middle class.  Economic growth at 8.2% and 7.1 % in the first and second quarters and the fact that fiscal deficit is at 3.4% are positive signs. On the healthcare front, Ayushman Bharat scheme has been launched in a short time, which is  creditable. Effective implementation of the scheme and ensuring a win-win situation for both the healthcare providers and patients will be critical for its success in the future. Setting up of 22nd AIIMS at Haryana is a much-needed step to augment the public sector healthcare facility in the country. The government focus on Swach Bharat, Safe drinking water and food-for-all are good preventive healthcare measures, which are likely to improve the overall health and well-being being of people. The decision to extend the tax rebate on an annual income of Rs. 5 lakhs will definitely help citizens better manage their healthcare needs. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras has also reduced the prices of essential medicines, cardiac stents and knee implants, enabling access to various income groups. We will work towards aligning our efforts with a positive impact of the national health schemes and the government’s vision towards providing a distress free healthcare and a comprehensive wellness system for all by 2030 Manish Sacheti, CFO, Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd: We applaud the Government on the announcement of a budget directed towards the lesser privileged and middle class population. The budget this year has indeed addressed a lot of issues that will help the economy to prosper. The allocation of INR 19,000 crores for the development of the roads in the rural areas is a great initiative. Being an emergency medical provider, this will help us reach out to the remotest corners of the country which has connectivity constraints. The success of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme is commendable and we are glad that the healthcare sector of the country is undergoing a significant transformation.

We hope that the Skill India program will include training of youths to become dedicated paramedics to help efficient and quality ambulance services. One avenue that should have been looked at is making Healthcare services  "zero-rated" under GST provisions, instead of being exempted, as the cost of inputs throughout the industry could further be reduced by claiming refunds of taxes paid on these inputs. This would help to enable these specialized services to reach out to the masses.

Dr. Somesh Mittal, Managing Director & CEO, Vikram Hospital Bengaluru: It is encouraging and happy to know that the Government has announced the largest government-funded healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat which will be beneficial to nearly 50 crore people. The reduction in the prices of essential medicines, cardiac stents and knee implants, and availability of medicines at affordable prices through Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras will help lakhs of poor and middle class people is definitely a welcome move. This scheme will further empower the poor and under privileged to avail medical services. We expected the government to provide sops for the healthcare service providers and encourage them to adopt technology like Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and the likes. These technology implantations will revolutionize precision based diagnosis, detection and prevention of diseases and benefit the citizens of the country.

Shanthini Arunthavanathan, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Westminster Healthcare, Chennai: The 2019-20 union budget comes as a cheer to many due to the government’s attempt of creating a mass -budget this year with special focus on rural health. Ayushman Bharat Scheme that was launched last year for providing medical treatment to around 50 crore people have so far treated 10 lakh people who could save nearly Rs 3,000 crore. This is a great achievement by the country’s healthcare and roping in private hospitals to the scheme as proposed by the government last year will certainly provide more teeth to it. However, more allocation of fund for appropriate execution of the scheme was a necessity and was expected. Apart from announcing about 14 new AIIMS since 2014, the announcement regarding setting up of 22nd All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Haryana is a welcome move towards enhancing advanced medical research in India, producing a greater number of qualified medical professionals and expanding opportunities for the aspiring medical students of the country. The government’s vision towards having a distress free healthcare and a functional, comprehensive healthcare system by 2030 are praiseworthy. Availability of drugs at a subsidised price at Jan Aushadhi Kendras and implementation of a price cap on drugs have made medicine affordable for all. With five lakh villages being declared open-defecation free along with achievement of over 98% rural sanitation coverage, there will be a certain improvement in both rural and urban health condition.

Saurabh Agarwal, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Medlife: The Interim Budget 2019 talked about various initiatives taken up by the Modi government that have transformed India in to one of the fastest growing economies in the world.   Ayushman Bharat, one of the world’s largest healthcare scheme was introduced with the aim of making healthcare affordable and accessible to all and has till date benefitted nearly 10 lakh patients. While, the Finance Minister did speak about the Digital India revolution, we hope to see more emphasis on digital healthcare given the positive impact it has created in improving access. However, we are confident that digital healthcare will find more prominence in the upcoming budget sessions. We will continue with our efforts to improve the healthcare ecosystem and align our efforts with the government’s vision to create distress free healthcare and a comprehensive wellness system for all.