-Livemint NHAM aims to provide all citizens with free drugs and diagnostic treatment, as well as insurance cover to treat serious ailments New Delhi: India's universal health plan that aims to offer guaranteed benefits to a sixth of the world's population will cost an estimated Rs1.6 trillion ($26 billion) over the next four years, a senior health ministry official said. Under the National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM), Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government...

-The Hindu Obamacare and other such examples make a compelling case for seeking the right combination of roles for the public and private sector in health reform in India Nail or screw? Which is best to join pieces of wood? In carpentry, the answer is that each offers benefits depending on the application. With health care reform, the choice of public or private sector financing, delivery and regulation is subject to a...

-The Hindu A systemic reform of the health sector in order to meet the key objectives of equity, efficiency and quality is long overdue. In this, the Central and State governments need to make interventions intelligently, decisively and strategically so that the poor reap the benefits How does Prime Minister Narendra Modi's focus on population, health and subjects like public hygiene, the facilitation of toilets and ensuring preventive health through yoga fit...

-The Indian Express International experience points to the dangers in moving towards a system of health insurance coverage. Improving government services is the answer. Last month, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan offered a glimpse into the new government's universal health assurance scheme, of which insurance will be an important component. Health insurance is also part of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the NDA government's financial inclusion programme. But international experience does...

-Economic and Political Weekly For India to improve the existing government health system is far less complex than expanding health insurance. International experience shows the difficulties of regulating an insurance-based system to keep costs down and assure quality. Monica Das Gupta (mdasgupta@gmail.com) teaches at the University of Maryland, College Park, the US. V R Muraleedharan (vrm@iitm. ac.in) teaches at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Please click here to download. ...