Abstract
The article analyses patterns and trends of healthcare financing in West Bengal. The aim is to understand the direction to which the public health system of the state heads. Real per capita expenditure on health remains almost stagnant in West Bengal during most of the 14th Finance Commission period. The state has shifted its focus from primary and preventive care and has been promoting insurance-based healthcare model, Swasthya Sathi, which might put the population of the state at the risk of being exposed to high medical expenses in absence of a sound public health system. Going by the past experience of healthcare financing in West Bengal, allocation of resources for Swasthya Sathi was contingent on the union government’s allocation of resources for Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, and later for Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. This means that if allocation for Prandhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is reduced by the centre, allocation for Swasthya Sathi might also fall. For a sound public health system, it is important to allocate resources adequately on public health so that it benefits the poor and socially deprived population.
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