Union Budget 2023-24: What healthcare sector expects from Finance Minister

The Union Budget 2023-24 is just around the corner. It is going to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February. The Parliamentary session of the Union Budget is likely to be held on 31 January, 2023, as per reports. Just like every sector of this country, the healthcare sector also has big expectations from this year’s budget. According to Shravan Subramanyam, Nathealth President, it is imperative to develop infrastructure capabilities so that people can have greater access to quality and critical healthcare services. He added that viability gap funding by the government is crucial to establish hospitals in tier-1 and tier-2 cities. This will encourage more investment in healthcare infrastructure, according to him. In an Economic Times report, Lalit Mistry, co-head of healthcare sector for KPMG, India stated what India’s healthcare sector expects from Union Budget 2023: Here are some of the expectations and recommendations of India’s healthcare sector for Union Budget 2023 as stated by Lalit Mistry: Providing tax benefits on preventive health check-ups The government needs to raise the health check-up deduction limit of Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 for a family in the Union Budget 2023. This will encourage the Indian citizens to get preventive health check-ups. Setting up a healthcare infrastructure fund The Indian government has established dedicated funds and schemes for supporting areas like Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Medical Device parks, and start-ups. Over the past few years, there have been fewer new medical colleges in the private sector. The interest of the private sector in establishing medical colleges has been further limited due to the recent capping on fee. The central and state governments can set up a healthcare fund to offer the private sector low-cost capital, financial benefits, and support with dedicated viability gap funding for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. Health Insurance of India’s Missing Middle The “Health Insurance of India’s Missing Middle” report by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Ayog has highlighted a comprehensive insurance model for covering the mission population in 2021. Nearly 40 crore people still don’t have financial protection. The government had taken an initiative of extending Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) cover to senior citizens in 2022.However, there is still an urgent requirement to develop healthcare coverage and financial models under the scheme to give mandatory health coverage to the remaining missing population. Offering tax benefits for healthcare skilling and development According to the Income Tax Act, 2013-Section 35CCD, a manufacturing company is allowed a weighted deduction of 150 percent of expenses incurred on a skill development project. This enables the manufacturers to recover the money invested on the skill development required for their industry. These fees can also be paid to the firm in cash returns instead of tax deductions. In order to be eligible, employees need to take six months or more to complete a training programme before beginning full time employment. This provision could be amended and provided to healthcare organisations for apprentice training of healthcare professionals. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.