UDF pledges to enhance Kerala’s health budget and provide universal coverage if elected

The United Democratic Front (UDF), if voted to power in Kerala in the upcoming Assembly elections, will strive to increase the budgetary allocation for health, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said.

He was addressing the media in Kozhikode on Thursday ahead of releasing a report on the healthcare sector in the State, prepared by a group of public health experts appointed by the UDF.

According to the report, Kerala’s health spending “remains modest” by its own high standards. “The 2024–25 State Budget allocated approximately 5.5% of the total expenditure on health, which is below the average share seen in several other States and short of the National Health Policy’s recommendation to the States to progressively increase the budgetary share of health towards around 8% of the total expenditure,” it says.

Mr. Satheesan claimed that the UDF would take steps to increase the current budgetary allocation on health. He said the UDF would try to provide universal health coverage with a motto ‘Health First’.

Expressing concern over the high out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) on health for people in the State, Mr. Satheesan promised to bring it down to “an affordable level.”

As per the report, the OOPE in health accounts for 17% of total spending, more than double the desired ceiling of 7.83%. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in 2021-22, OOPE as a percentage of total health expenditure in Kerala was 59.1%, the second highest in the country and only below the figure reported in Uttar Pradesh.

Mr. Satheesan said the model adopted by the Tamil Nadu government to bring down OOPE could be emulated in Kerala.

Health clusters

Mr. Satheesan also promised to set up health clusters in areas dominated by Scheduled Tribes, healthcare units in coastal areas, and special hospitals titled ‘She Hospitals’ to address the health needs of women and children, and an increased focus on geriatric care.