-The Times of India This month, Kolkata-based Mr and Mrs Soubito Banerjee, who are in their 70s, saw their medical insurance premium almost double from Rs 32,000 to Rs 63,000. Chennai-based Annathai Gopalakrishnan (68) will pay Rs 58,000, up from Rs 29,000. In general, a health insurance cover of just Rs 5 lakh for a 65-year-old couple now costs Rs 84,000 per annum, as against Rs 54,000 five years ago. For...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: At a time when a delayed schedule for this year's winter session of Parliament is a matter of discussion in political circles, an examination of records shows that 47% of Bills in the last 10 years were passed without any debate. There has also been a steady reduction in parliamentary hours, a comparison with records of the first 20 years since 1952 show. Between 1952 and...

-The Hindu UHC provides the framework in which the issues of access, quality and cost can be integrated Three recent incidents involving the health-care sector in Delhi have sparked widespread outrage over the alleged mercenary motives and callous conduct of high-profile corporate hospitals. Two cases involved children with dengue who died soon after leaving these hospitals in a serious condition after their families were presented huge hospitalisation and treatment Bills. The third...

-Down to Earth More than 180 farmer organisations from across the country proposed Bills related to debt waiver and fair crop prices in a mock parliament  On the second day of a protest organised by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), farmers from more than 180 farmer organisations across the country proposed a bill each on debt waiver and fair prices for crops. For two days, thousands of farmers had gathered...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Most households covered by government-funded health insurance have to use personal funds to pay for hospitalisation, a study has suggested, iterating concerns about the wisdom of deploying public-funded insurance schemes to seek universal health coverage in India. The study, designed to determine how well government-funded health insurance protects households from health expenditure, has found that 66 per cent of such households who sought healthcare in public hospitals and...