Healthcare costs remain sky-high in Kerala despite increased govt. health investments

High OOPE on health in Kerala despite increased government spending, highest per capita OOPE in India, reliance on private sector.

Increasing morbidity, rising burden of lifestyle diseases, an aging population, the high health-seeking behaviour of the people and increased reliance on private healthcare institutions is pushing up the out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) on health in Kerala.

Despite increased health spending by the State, health insurance coverage and increased investment in health infrastructure at secondary and tertiary care public hospitals, OOPE on health in Kerala remains one of the highest in the country.

NHA figures

According to the latest National Health Accounts (NHA) for 2021-22 period, the per capita OOPE on health in Kerala is the highest in the country at ₹7,889. The same in neighbouring Tamil Nadu is just ₹2,280.

This high OOPE is despite the fact that Kerala also has the highest per capita expenditure on health at ₹13,343. NHA figures show that Kerala tops the list when it comes to the per capita government spending on health, at ₹4,338.

Kerala spends about 5.2% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) on health. The total health expenditure of the State in the accounting year was ₹48,034 crore. And of this, ₹28,400 crore was money spent by people from their own pockets or the State’s total OOPE on health .

OOPE as a percentage of the total health expenditure (THE) of Kerala came to 59.1%, which means that more than half of the State’s expenditure on health is money spent by people from their own pocket. However, this is a drop from 2020-21, when OOPE as a percentage of total health expenditure was 65.7%