1. Examining the effect of removing banknotes and implementing Goods and Services Tax on access to healthcare in India.
- Author
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Ghosh, Sourindra Mohan
- Subjects
VALUE-added tax ,HEALTH services accessibility ,MEDICAL care costs - Abstract
This paper explores the effect of the banknote ban and GST, which were implemented within a span of 8 months in 2016-2017, on self-reported illnesses and healthcare consumption in India. The findings show that the increasing trend of self-reported illness from 1995-96 to 2014, reversed in 2017-2018. The reduction in healthcare consumption between 2014 and 2017-2018 is primarily within the private care sector rather than public care, indicating economic duress induced by the banknote ban and GST as its cause. The reduction in self-reported illness and healthcare consumption is more prolonged among the occupationally vulnerable. The reduction in reporting of illnesses, healthcare consumption, and out-of-pocket expenditure on health continued even after one-and-half years of the banknote ban; this may also have been exacerbated later by the implementation of GST. Data indicate that the condition of public healthcare deteriorated between 2014 to 2018. As a result, even though the weaker sections' access to private healthcare diminished, they could not turn to public healthcare either, resulting in a reduction in overall healthcare consumption. The findings of this paper call for a robust, functioning, affordable public healthcare system in India for greater crisis resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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