Focus on providing tax benefits to medical device manufacturers in India, along with promoting FDI in the sector with an aim to developing a more robust local medical manufacturing industry
following should be areas of focus in the government's annual health budget: Develop a roadmap for strategic health initiatives such as telemedicine, digital health record adoption etc. These initiatives will help compensate for the inadequate number of doctors and the lack of connected healthcare platforms. Special tax breaks for startups in this sector or public-private partnerships (PPP) with them could lead to a faster development of these technologies. Focus on providing tax benefits to medical device manufacturers in India, along with promoting FDI in the sector with an aim to developing a more robust local medical manufacturing industry. Currently, we import over 70 per cent of all medical apparatus used in the country. To reduce out-of-pocket expenditure, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana was launched in 2008 for BPL families. Having received appreciation by the UN, World Bank and the ILO as one of the world's best health insurance schemes, it fell short in that it only benefitted patients through cashless hospitalisation facility but could not provide assistance in the case of
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February 2016
OPD patients. The National Health Assurance mission which was expected to be launched last year, could go a long way in providing universal healthcare for Indian citizens.
With India extending its Visa on arrival scheme, more tourists may prefer India for their medical treatment. The government should allocate funds for promoting holistic
and alternative medicine to foreigners, and tax earnings from medical tourism could be used to subsidise healthcare for the underprivileged in India. Telemedicine facilities
also contribute to providing more support to prospective or recovering patients, thus increasing India's attractiveness as an affordable healthcare destination.