'Over 2 crore from Maharashtra benefitted under government health insurance schemes': Health Secretary

Mumbai: Maharashtra Public Health Principal Secretary Mr N Nawin Sona claimed that, there are approximately 1,000 hospitals in Maharashtra that care for approximately 2.2 crore beneficiaries, and approximately 83 lakh people are covered for all ailments with an insurance cover of Rs 1.5 lakh per person per year under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana. Other than that, there is a central scheme, Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) which gives health coverage up to Rs 5 lakhs. 

The minister, in his speech at the 5th edition of the CII Hospital Tech Conclave 2022, "Future of Healthcare: A Road Ahead,"  organised by CII here on Monday, said that these schemes are reviewed on a weekly basis by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The central government is putting a lot of emphasis on public health care

"The central government is giving a lot of emphasis on public health care to prevent a loss to the economy due to the loss of productivity of its workforce," he said.

He informed them that the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) will enable people to receive faster and more affordable healthcare even in the most remote parts of the country.

"Due to the 14-digit account number, a lot of patient data would be generated and saved." "With his data records saved on the cloud, he can get access to faster healthcare as a lot of time would be saved," he said.

The Indian healthcare sector creates 500,000 new jobs every year.

Joy Chakraborty, Chairman, CII-WR Sub Committee on Healthcare and COO, P. D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre, explained that the Indian healthcare sector is one of the country's largest employers and creates around 500,000 new jobs every year.

"The Heal India initiative, which focuses on quality health care and low-cost services, is one of the factors that has given rise to medical tourism in the country," he said.

Mr. Chakraborty stated that since the year 2016, the Indian healthcare sector has been growing at a rate of 22 percent CAGR and is going to touch $372 billion by the end of 2022.