Insurance-driven health care threatens public health system, warns KSSP seminar
Experts call for higher government spending, tighter regulation of private players and measures to reduce out-of-pocket treatment costs
Experts at a KSSP seminar in Thrissur have warned that the increasing dominance of insurance companies and private hospitals in Kerala's healthcare sector is harming patients and undermining the public health system. V. Ramankutty, a leading health economist, highlighted how this corporate influence is leading to the exploitation of patients and the weakening of public healthcare.
He argued that this growing nexus between insurers and hospital management is causing a reduction in government funding for public health care. Ramankutty called for stronger regulation of the health sector and for the government to increase its spending on public healthcare, suggesting that a health cess and sin taxes could generate additional revenue for this purpose.
Concerns were raised about multinational corporations acquiring private hospitals in Kerala, which could lead to higher treatment costs. While government-sponsored insurance schemes like MEDISEP may offer some relief, experts stressed that they are not sufficient to address the issue. Instead, they argued for a stronger public healthcare system and a reduction in patients' out-of-pocket expenses, in order to make quality healthcare accessible without imposing a financial strain on families.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
