India’s 40-crore ‘missing middle’: caught between weak public healthcare and costly private care
A Parliamentary Standing Committee report highlights that over 40 crore Indians are trapped in a healthcare gap, unable to afford private care but ineligible for government subsidies. The report attributes this vulnerability to low public health spending and the high cost of medicines and outpatient services.
Why it matters
This structural issue threatens the financial stability of a massive segment of the Indian population, potentially leading to long-term economic erosion for middle-income households.
More than 40 crore Indians — over a quarter of the population — are caught in a healthcare gap -- too well off to rely on government subsidies, but not financially secure enough to absorb the rising cost of private care, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has flagged. Its latest report, ‘Affordability and Accessibility of Healthcare Facilities in Public and Private Sector,’ presented to the Parliament last month, makes 368 recommendations on affordability, accessibility and regulation.
The vulnerability is rooted in where Indians seek care, states the report, with more than 60% of inpatient care and 70% of outpatient care delivered by the private sector, leaving households without comprehensive financial protection exposed to private prices .
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