Union Budget 2019: Constitution makes healthcare the responsibility of state governments

The Constitution of India makes healthcare the responsibility of the state governments, rather than the Central government. As a result, the states are responsible for raising nutrition levels and standard of living of the people besides improving public health among its primary duties.

The private health care sector is responsible for the majority of health care in India, and most health care expenses are paid directly out of pocket by patients and their families, rather than through health insurance.

In order to help the poor, the Centre had launched a government-funded health insurance project in 2018, called Ayushman Bharat.

In the interim Budget 2019, the government had announced a budgetary allocation of Rs 61,398 crore for the health sector for 2019-20 fiscal, with Rs 6,400 crore earmarked for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) health insurance scheme. The health outlay for the upcoming financial year is the highest in the last two financial years and a 16 percent increase over the 2018-2019 allocation which was Rs 52,800 crore.