Rising medical expenses add to financial stress of citizens

PHANA says costs have gone up by 30% both for patients and hospitals

Ragashree Gnanesh, whose aged mother needs regular follow-up with a specialist for her recurring health problems, has been finding it increasingly difficult to cope with medical expenses. The salary she gets as a contract employee in a private firm is not keeping pace with the rising medical costs. 

“One visit to the hospital costs me not less than ₹4,500. I have to shell out ₹900 towards the consultation fee alone. Even a few basic investigations and monthly medicine are becoming difficult now,” she said.

“Although I have a small medical insurance, I cannot use it for out-patient department visits. With a substantial increase in the cost of living too, medical expenses are turning out to be a huge burden on us,” she said.

According to data from the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), health inflation in urban areas shot up from 9.12% in January, 2022, to 11.64% in March.

Although it marginally reduced to 10.81% in April, the overall combined health inflation rate has seen almost a two-fold rise compared to last year.

C.N. Manjunath, director of the State-run Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, said the rising costs of medical expenses is actually a cascading effect of inflation in all other sectors.

“A sharp surge in fuel, transportation, power and licensing fees to be paid by hospitals is turning out to be costly for the health facilities making it inevitable for them to pass on the additional burden to patients,” he said.