What the FM said:
Arun Jaitley announced a raft of measures to shore up healthcare reforms in India noting that the government has decided to take health protection to a "more aspirational" level. He announced a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approx. 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalization.
Jaitley called it the world's largest government funded healthcare program. He noted "adequate funds will be provided for smooth implementation of this program." Ambitious and progressive as it appears, health economists have raised questions about the lofty targets set by the government under the Ayushman Bharat program.
