New Delhi : Revenue earned from foreign patients and affluent Indians should help fund advanced treatment for poorer patients. This is the recommendation of a parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare.
The panel, headed by Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav, proposed that corporate hospitals adopt a cross-subsidisation model, as per media reports. Under this policy, part of the revenue generated from medical tourism and high-paying patients is used to provide tertiary care to economically weaker Indians.
The recommendation is part of the committee’s report on the affordability and accessibility of healthcare. The panel noted that India’s corporate hospital sector has recorded strong growth, driven by high-value procedures, rising medical tourism and increasing revenue per occupied bed.
While acknowledging India’s emergence as a global healthcare destination, the committee said the benefits of this growth should also reach patients who cannot afford expensive treatment.
Corporate Hospitals Asked To Serve Poorer Patients
The committee said private health insurance penetration remains low in India, while high out-of-pocket expenses continue to push families into financial distress. A structured cross-subsidy mechanism, it said, could improve access to life-saving tertiary care for poorer patients.
The panel also recommended that corporate hospitals reserve a defined share of their beds for patients covered under government-funded health insurance schemes such as Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY.
Such beds should be offered at standard package rates to ensure that beneficiaries can access advanced treatment at leading private hospitals, it said.
The committee also proposed linking government incentives for private hospitals to their investment in under-served areas. Hospitals that receive benefits such as subsidised land, tax incentives and facilitation for foreign direct investment should be encouraged to invest in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and rural areas.
Panel Seeks, Wider Healthcare Access
The committee recommended expanding public-private partnerships and providing financial and technological support to smaller hospitals in under-served regions to address the uneven distribution of healthcare infrastructure.
The panel also proposed several measures to make private healthcare more affordable, including standardising treatment package rates and improving price transparency. It recommended capping private hospital room rents in major metropolitan cities at the average tariff charged by nearby three-star hotels.
The committee further called for higher government spending on healthcare to reduce the burden of out-of-pocket expenses on patients and families. The recommendations form part of a broader roadmap proposed by the panel to improve the affordability and accessibility of healthcare while ensuring that the growth of India’s private healthcare sector benefits a wider section of the population.
