Union Budget 2024: 5 Key Expectations from the Healthcare Industry

Intro: The Union Budget announcement is the most awaited event around the corner. Be it a small business owner, salaried person, or an established entrepreneur, everyone is looking forward to it. Keeping pace with the industry sentiment, Mohit Tandon, GM-IT at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute & Action Cancer Hospital shared a few key expectations that are crucial in shaping the future course of healthcare delivery in India.

Start: We need to keep a comprehensive approach to healthcare spending in the interim finances of 2024. The expenditure on simple healthcare, which includes treating common fitness worries, giving important medicinal drugs, immunisation, and other preventative measures, have been the most important concerns. Equitable supply and utilisation, focusing on marginalised groups, outpatient care, and dynamic price insurance are what ought to be prioritised.

Moreover, emphasis has to be placed on modern medical technology like artificial intelligence, which may additionally enhance the high-quality of lifestyles for patients during operations, speed up coverage claims for required strategies, and lift the efficacy of healthcare shipping normal. To pave the way for a more fit, greater technologically state-of-the-art destiny for our country, we hope that the finances will resolve those problems and actively assist efforts to cope with them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has immensely increased the focus on the country’s healthcare sector which is constantly aiming to rise high and grow like never before. Like other businesses, the healthcare industry, too, has very high expectations from the Union Budget 2024. It includes the growth and development of a better healthcare infrastructure, healthcare development fund and provisions of various tax benefits such as:

Ayushman Bharat Scheme

The government has already expanded the benefits and coverage of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). This scheme is considered as one of the world’s biggest health insurance schemes, especially to the middle class segments of our society. One can also search the scheme as ‘missing middle’ in a report published by the NITI Aayog titled “Health Insurance of India’s Missing Middle”.

Announcement of Tax Benefits on Preventive Health Check-Ups

This year, we are also hoping for an increase in tax deductions on health check-up expenses. The increase in tax deduction will help more people to opt for preventive health check-ups, which results in early diagnosis of a life-threatening disease.

Lowering the GST Rate

The demand for healthcare services is growing worldwide. The healthcare industry is in focus given the fact that we are still recovering from the pandemic. Less than 18% GST will help reduce the manufacturing cost of medical equipment in India, and will boost productivity.

Easy Availability of Bank Loans

Soft loans from banks should be encouraged for new hospital-based projects. This will encourage more people to invest in medical services, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.

Service-Linked Scheme for Healthcare Services

Our government has already introduced the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for medical devices. This year, we expect the government to introduce a service-linked scheme for our healthcare industry. This should focus on providing various incentives to companies providing healthcare services or even in the development of medical services or hospital infrastructure.

So, a better budgetary allocation for the healthcare segment will not only aid in making a ‘Blooming India’, but also provide the important financial benefits to non-poor segments.

NATHEALTH recommendations strengthening healthcare infrastructure, rationalisation of GST, upcoming innovative healthcare models tailored for special healthcare requirements, facilitating access to urban cities to strengthen India’s healthcare ecosystem initially followed by opening of healthcare infrastructure in rural areas too, and leveraging technology to establish world-class healthcare ecosystems. The recommendations go beyond the conventional norms by advocating for inclusive strategies that confront regional healthcare disparities and making it a great success.

Undoubtedly, The Union Budget 2024-25 is expected to help private and public healthcare services through improvement in medical resources, strengthening the infrastructure of the hospitals, providing specialised medical services, better insurance policies and much more. In short, we can expect the government to support our healthcare industry which will make our country a happy and healthy place to live in.