India Medical Insurance News
The healthcare services in India may be extremely different from what many expatriates are used to. Healthcare throughout India is primarily the responsibility of the individual states; this means that the federal government has no direct influence on the overall conditions present in the nation's healthcare systems. This has lead critics to cite the fact that the fact that there is no overall structure (federal body governing health care) can make the Indian healthcare system extremely confusing and the inability of the federal government to develop healthcare along with the wider goals of social and economic development.
Federal government efforts relating to healthcare have mainly pertained to interacting with the various state organizations in regards to creating a cohesive healthcare network across the country. This, however, has realized very little success, as the Indian constitution states that each individual region is able to frame its healthcare system as it sees fit as long as it continues with “the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health”. This essentially means that the Indian federal government is unable to force any change in the country when it comes to healthcare.
A reason why this is so disastrous is because India has a huge wealth gap with the majority of its 1 billion citizens living below the poverty line. This has put massive strain on each of the individual states medical systems and lead to funding being stretched as far as it can possibly go. As a result of this healthcare professionals are receiving very little financial compensation (especially those who practice their medicine in the public sector) and are looking for better opportunities elsewhere. This has, increasingly, lead to much of the Indian medical community leaving the country to pursue higher paying jobs overseas, with specific attention being paid to Western Europe and North America .
Overall India spends approximately 6% of its total GDP on public healthcare and medical services; this makes India one of the highest spenders on health care in the world. However, due to the fact that the wealth gap is rapidly increasing and more and more Indian citizens are failing to receive the quality healthcare that they need. This has led to a general shift in the way that the country deals with its public medical services and has seen, rather than staying with a universal healthcare system, targeted public health programs specifically relating to family planning, immunization, medical research, healthcare education, and specified disease surveillance.
This departure from a universal health care system has meant that the quality of healthcare throughout India has decreased dramatically and the only places where individuals are able to receive a high standard of treatment are at private medical facilities, which is out of the question for most of the local population due to the costs associated with the care that is given at these places.
This does not mean, however, that private medical facilities in India are not thriving, the truth is in fact quite the opposite. In recent years India's middle and upper classes have grown dramatically (although they make up a much smaller proportion of the population as a whole) and it is this portion of the population that have access to these superior healthcare facilities. So while a large proportion of the whole population is left without adequate healthcare and medical services, there are a select few that receive the care they need.
To call these few superior quality medical facilities “excellent”, would be going too far. In terms of the care and treatment options offered at the best hospitals and clinics in India it would be fair to liken them to second or third tier medical facilities in the USA . What this means for expatriates who are moving to India in an effort to take advantage of the rapidly expanding economy is that the standard of healthcare throughout the country will not be of the quality that they are used to. Even though the quality of treatment throughout India may be of a lower standard that many European or American hospitals, costs are also relatively low, it is only at the very best hospitals where the treatment standards are the highest in the country that the costs will be equitable with those found elsewhere in the world.
If an expatriate in India would like to receive the same standard of care that they would be able to access in their home country then they will be forced to pay costs significantly higher than those experienced elsewhere in the country. This situation is likely to last for at least the next few decades while the country sorts out its nationwide legislation in regards to healthcare and provides a system of reforms that will allow the healthcare services in individual states to efficiently interact with each other to provide blanket protection for all residents of India .
The only way to currently protect yourself and ensure that you and your loved ones receive high quality medical care worldwide is with an international health insurance policy. International health insurance plans will provide you with protection in India or anywhere else in the world that you may go. Giving you the choice of where and how you receive treatment these plans will afford you with the peace of mind that no matter what happens during your stay in India, you will have the quality that you deserve.
For more information about the India international health insurance plans that we can provide, or to receive a free quote, please contact one of our expert advisers today.For more information about India, the international health insurance plans that we can offer there, or to receive a free quote, please contact one of our expert advisers today.