NEW DELHI – India has made significant progress since the early 2000s in implementing its welfare state ideals, seeking to provide its citizens the right to food, education, employment and information. So when the northern Indian state of Rajasthan took the lead in including health to this panoply, most expected the move to be widely welcomed.
The Bill, which awaits the assent of the governor to be formalised as law, makes access to healthcare a legal entitlement of every resident in the state. Most healthcare services at private hospitals in the state have been suspended, forcing Rajasthan’s residents to depend on the state’s overburdened public hospitals or travel outside the state for essential healthcare.
“This government track record just doesn’t inspire confidence,” Dr Chugh told The Straits Times, claiming reimbursements are also often fixed at a quarter or lower than market rates. The Bill went through a long process of consultation, and factors in several concerns from private doctors, including beefing up their presence on an oversight mechanism.
The Bill, according to its supporters, adds greater pressure on the state to beef up its healthcare infrastructure so that it is able to deliver on the Bill’s commitments.