THe Union Budget’s proposal for a National Health Protection Scheme has generated tremendous interest and excitement. It seems to offer an answer to a formidable problem plaguing India’s healthcare system. Two-thirds of what people spend on healthcare comes from their own pocket and treatment of a serious illness invariably leads to a severe financial setback. The poor often cannot afford proper care or, in trying to find a way of doing so, sometimes fall into destitution.
The scheme envisages 100 million not so well off families (notionally 500 million people) getting a Rs 5-lakh. . .
