New Delhi: Healthcare leaders and experts shared their views on the Union Budget 2023-24. Informing that the new initiative like setting up 157 new nursing colleges, centres of excellence in AI, strong emphasis to promote innovation and R&D, PPP in healthcare and specialised workforce, and mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia is a step in the right direction. On the other hand, industry stakeholders are of the view that success will be determined by how well it is implemented. At the same time, the healthcare stakeholders are dismayed that there was no increase in the budget allocation, no revision/reduction in GST, no tax exemption and missing out on the crucial aspect of universal health coverage.
Private healthcare institutes raised concerns such as the government not increasing healthcare spending to 2.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) concern and streamlining embedded indirect taxes like Goods and Service Taxes (GST) in the sector. The allocation for health in the budget is 2.1 per cent of the GDP.
