Citizens Expenditure in Private hospitals is 4 times the expenditure in Public hospitals - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 16, 2016
The 71st survey report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on Health in India reveals that the amount spent on hospitalization in private hospitals is almost 4 times the amount spent on hospitalization in public hospitals.
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) recently released the 71 round report on ‘Health in India’. The report is based on surveys done between January and June of 2014. According to this report, in rural areas, an average of Rs 5636 was spent on hospitalization in public hospitals while Rs 21726 was spent in private hospitals.  The amount spent in private hospitals is 4 times the amount spent in a public hospital. The report also mentions that 20% of the childbirths in rural areas were at home or any other place during a reference period of 365 days. In urban areas, only 11% of the child births were at home.
Average expenditure for non-hospitalized treatment is Rs 509 in rural areas
It is observed that on an average, a higher amount is spent in urban areas on non-hospitalized treatment of one ailment than in rural areas. The difference is more than 100 rupees. An average of Rs 502 was spent by a male in rural areas while Rs 683 was spent by his urban counterpart. An average of Rs 515 was spent by a female in rural areas while only Rs 604 was spent by her in urban areas. The difference between the urban and rural expenditure was least in the case of female.
72% of the expenditure on Medicines in Rural areas
Out of the total expenditure on non-hospitalized treatment per ailment in rural areas, 13.6% was spent on doctor’s fee, 71.6% on medicines and 14.8% on others including diagnostic tests. In the urban areas, 15.6% was spent on doctor’s fee, 68% on medicines and 16.4% on others including diagnostic tests. A greater percentage was spent on both doctor’s fee and others in the urban areas compared to the rural areas. On the other hand, a greater percentage was spent on medicines in rural areas compared to the urban areas.
Average expenditure on hospitalization in urban areas was Rs 10000 more than in rural
The average expenditure on hospitalization in the rural areas was Rs 14935 which is almost Rs 10000 less than the average expenditure of Rs 24436 in urban areas. The overall expenditure on hospitalization was Rs 18268 for the reference period. In both urban and rural areas, average expenditure on male patients was substantially more than the average expenditure on female patients.
Average medical expenditure in Private hospitals almost 4 times the expenditure in public hospitals
In the rural areas, an average of Rs 5636 was spent on hospitalization in a public hospital while the corresponding expenditure in a private hospital was almost four times this amount at Rs 21726. A similar trend was observed even in the urban areas. While Rs 7670 was spent on an average for hospitalization in public hospitals, Rs 32375 was spent in a private hospital. Average expenditure incurred for treatment for female was lower than male in both from public and private hospital. This was true even in the case of non-hospitalized treatment.
20% of the Childbirths in Rural areas were at home
In the reference period of 365 days, 56% of the deliveries in rural areas were at a public hospital, 24% in a private hospital and the remaining 20% at home or other places. In the urban areas, 42% of the deliveries were in public hospitals, 48% in private hospitals and the remaining 10% at home or other places. In 2004 (NSSO 60th round) these percentages for child-births at home were 65% in rural areas and 26% in urban areas. It appears that in the last 10 years, a substantial shift towards institutional delivery has happened both in the rural and urban areas.
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