The Union Budget 2018 was presented by Finance Minister (FM) Arun Jaitey on February 01, 2018. The major announcements of Union Budget 2018 related to Health sector are being discussed in this article, the Schematic outlays of health sector budget allocation is also being described in the tables below :-

Schematic outlay of health sector budget allocation:

Ministry/Department/ Scheme Name FY 2017-18 FY 2018-19
Health & Family Welfare 47,353 (crore) 52,800 (crore)
Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) 3,975 3,825
National AIDS and STD Control programmme 2,000 2,100
National Rural Health Mission 21,189 24,280
National Urban Health Mission 752 875
Human Resoruces for Health & Medical Education 4,025 4,225
Tertiary care programme 725 750
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) 1,000 2,000
 
AYUSH 1,429 1,626
National Ayush Mission (NAM) 441 504
 
Health Research 1,500 1,800
  • Healthcare gets a big boost with announcement of National Health Protection Scheme – The finance minister has announced that the government will provide health insurance worth Rs 5 lakh to 10 crore poor families across India. This will be the world's largest government funded health care programme.
  • Primary, Secondary and Tertiary healthcare: 1.5 lakes health and wellness centres for primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare would provide comprehensive healthcare with free diagnostics treatment. This has been given a provision of Rs 1200 crore in the budget.
  • Tuberculosis (TB) Patients: The Government has, decided to allocate additional `600 crore to provide nutritional support to all TB patients at the rate of `500 per month for the duration of their treatment.
  • Setting up 24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals: By upgrading existing district hospitals in the country. This would ensure that there is at least 1 Medical College for every 3 Parliamentary Constituencies and at least 1 Government Medical College in each State of the country.
  • Health and Education Cess increased by 1%: The existing three per cent education cess will be replaced by a four per cent "Health and Education Cess" to be levied on the tax payable. This will enable government to collect an estimated additional amount of `11,000 crores.
  • Proposals to modify custom Duty rates: under indirect tax regime the changes in custom duty to address the problem of duty inversion in medical device sector, further to provide adequate protection to domestic Perfumes and toiletry industry as described below-
  • Items Description Rate of Duty
    From To
    Medical Devices Raw materials, parts or accessories for the manufacture of Cochlear Implants 2.5% nil
    Perfumes and toiletry preparations Preparations for oral or dental hygiene, including denture fixative pastes and powders; yarn used to clean between the teeth (dental floss), in individual retail packages 10% 20%
  • Amendments in Import duty – First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975: The tariff rate of customs duty for the specified medical devices is being increased from 7.5% to 10%. The effective rate of import duty on such medical devices will, however, remain unchanged.
  • Health insurance limit increased for senior citizen and salaried taxpayer:  Raising the limit of deduction for health insurance premium and/ or medical expenditure from 30,000/- to 50,000/-, under section 80D. All senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of deduction up to `50,000/- per annum in respect of any health insurance premium and/or any general medical expenditure incurred.

    • Raising the limit of deduction for medical expenditure in respect of certain critical illness from, 60,000/- in case of senior citizens and from 80,000/- in case of very senior citizens, to 1 lakh in respect of all senior citizens, under section 80DDB.
    • In order to provide relief to salaried taxpayers, a standard deduction of 40,000/- in lieu of the present exemption in respect of transport allowance and reimbursement of miscellaneous medical expenses.
  • Promote cultivation of medicinal/ aromatic plants: Indian ecology supports cultivation of highly specialized medicinal and aromatic plants. India is also home to a large number of small and cottage industries that manufacture perfumes, essential oils and other associated products. To support organized cultivation and associated industry the allocation of a sum of 200 crore is purposed.

Conclusion:

The Union Budget 2018 has taken a step big leap towards achieving universal health coverage by making health care more accessible with the flagship National Health Protection Scheme initiative which should expand access to quality healthcare to the poor and under-privileged. The increase in health insurance limit should also lead to substantial boost in the healthcare insurance sector, Hospital sector should also make gains from this budget.

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