For even the little things can empty your pockets

When I started writing today, I was reminded of an old idiom – “Sometimes all that you need is a handful”. In this world of give and take, whatever you need comes at a cost. At least, it is true for modern healthcare in India. In our nation, sometimes an empty pocket can cost a life!

For a culture that acknowledges health as wealth, it is ironical that real wealth is destroyed because of the lack of money that should be spent on treatment. A visit to a hospital will easily unveil the current scenario of hospitals and healthcare facilities in our society. Many people are denied treatment just due to lack of money.

Lack of effective healthcare payment plans in India translates into a gross negligence of healthcare, even in well to do people. Things are even worse in the lower financial strata. Without a penny to pay even for their basic needs, thousands of people suffer from major illness without getting treated. Lakhs of people lose their lives because of denied treatment. Treatment denied is life denied!

Whereas financial capital is an important prerequisite to the sustainability of healthcare sector as an industry, a solution is required for it to become as much universally accessible as possible. In the current Indian scenario, the treatment of diseases from the common cold to dreadful cancer requires money. For a common man, this money is an important factor that determines one’s future. Many people save this money at the cost of their health. In order to reach its full potential, it is important for the healthcare industry to devise ways to make healthcare more affordable.

The old ways have proven to be full of errors, and yet, new hospitals are being established day by day, turning healthcare into an abode of rat-race where it’s certain that the common man will suffer. Let us make this a food for thought while thinking of healthcare in the future.

The Insurance Buzzword

As an alternative to the monetary woes of a common man, health insurance policies have been introduced. This has solved the issues up to a certain limit, however, it has still not been able to put the common man on the healthcare path. A major reason is their lack of knowledge.  Even though health insurance is in its infancy, and not much is known about health insurance policies, even to many people who might be able to avail it!

A reason for this might be lack of penetration of insurance into the regular small-city ‘nursing-homes’ that make a large chunk of Indian healthcare sector. Moreover, the insurance companies in India are still utilizing the traditional marketing approaches rather than adopting marketing in unison with healthcare providers and other stakeholders in healthcare industry.

A need for change

The issue of fee for service payment model in Indian healthcare is at the core of our health woes. Everyone should be able to avail healthcare facilities. There should not be more sufferers. Adequate knowledge should be provided to the common man and more policies should be introduced to avail the treatments at a much lower cost.

However, more importantly, the healthcare industry should spearhead the change in affordability and profitability of their service. Co-creating policies with the patients and the common-man and collaborating across disciplines of insurance and finance shall hold key to the next wave of cashless healthcare.

No more lives should be lost because of denied treatments. .And no more tears because of empty pockets. Let the world smile. Let us build a happy world with a healthy mind &  a healthy body. Let us all contribute to a change in healthcare!

Author: Ananya Chandra.