Indian Budget: New Health Schemes But Spending Remains Tight

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has proposed in its budget to help poor families manage "unforeseen" medical costs while keeping a tight leash on the country's overall healthcare spending, which remains among the lowest globally as a percentage of GDP.

NEW DELHI - The Indian government has announced a new hospital insurance protection scheme to help poor families cope with "catastrophic health events" in its annual budget, but has dismayed some industry players by ignoring longstanding calls for a significant increase in spending to fix the country's crumbling medical system.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the total health allocation by 13% to INR395bn ($5.1bn), including funds for traditional medicine, for...

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