Indian Medical Association puts forward demands to govt ahead of budget presentation

Indian Medical Association (IMA) has suggested that the funds for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) should be used exclusively for the private sector for strategic purchase and creating a retainer system and not for critical gaps in the funding of government hospitals.

In its proposal to the government for consideration in the upcoming Union Budget, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has said deficit funding is the most important cause behind the lack of penetration of the AB-PMJAY.

If the funding has to be raised to at least the CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) level, then the amount required is around Rs 1.6 lakh crore, the doctors' body said.

The money being provided now is around Rs 12,000 crore, it said, adding that it is not possible to deficit finance to this level.Insufficient fund allotment is the root cause of the unrealistically low package rates, the IMA said.

AB-PMJAY should remove the unjust exclusion criteria for procedures imposed on private hospitals, it added. The IMA also recommended creating a special welfare fund for doctors in general and for the "COVID-19 martyrs in particular.

The doctors' body said the government should conceive a zero-rate Goods and Services Tax (GST) on healthcare services, allowing the service providers to claim input tax credit.

As the GST is not payable on healthcare services, the service providers are not eligible for input tax credit. Enabling this would ensure that input taxes are not added to the cost of the services and provide some relief to patients, the IMA said.

The healthcare industry is the only industry which does not get input credit because of exemption. Actually, the GST paid by the institutions becomes expenditure and indirectly adds to the cost of treatment.

Either some percentage of the total GST paid by healthcare providers be treated as advance tax or MAT (Minimum Alternative Tax) or the GST paid by them on equipment or otherwise should be reduced to 5 per cent, it suggested.

The country lost more than 2,000 doctors during the (Covid) pandemic. Unfortunately, the majority of the families of the deceased doctors did not receive any help other than whatever little the IMA could marshal.

A special welfare fund for doctors in general and for Covid martyrs in particular has to be set up. The nation owes at least this gesture to the medical community, it said.

The IMA has also sought a hike in the healthcare expenditure from the current 1.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2.5 per cent, as envisaged in the National Health Policy, 2017.

It also said doctors and healthcare organisations be given access to the working capital and preferential funding to ensure that the overall cost of operations is reduced.

Benefits should be given to manufacturers of healthcare equipment and consumables under the "Make in India" campaign, the IMA said.