managements have been creating as many hurdles for the government colleges in its development , more particularly PG seats . In the name of PPP , corporate have been trying to take over government hospitals , land and other resources , weaken medical colleges , and health services ( diagnostic services , supply of equipment and medicines ).
A . P Government is in the forefront in health sector reforms . The government wants to privatize health services at all levels and is actively advocating public-private partnership ( PPP ). Government has been making efforts to privatize for instance Guntur medical college and hospital , one of the oldest hospitals in A . P . The state ’ s health budget does not exceed 1 % of GDP . Within allocated resources , 25 % of it is diverted towards Arogya Raksha , a community health insurance scheme as part of NTR Vaidya Seva .. From the year 2008 onwards , Aarogyasri then and Arogya Raksha now has been a sacred cow for the corporate tertiary hospitals and private nursing homes in A . P . As public health sector is already starving for resources , there should be separate allocation for these health insurance schemes in the health budget .
The state ’ s patronage to the private sector is sometimes justified on the ground that it would ease out pressure on the government hospitals . In reality , the private hospitals have effectively staked their claims over government resources through reimbursement of medical bills to the government employees . This is evident the way the corporate hospitals have been siphoning off huge amounts of public resources through inflated bills for treatment , employees medical insurance claims , income tax concessions by registering themselves as trusts and research centres etc . The Indian health care system is the most privatized in the world , with 83 % of health care expenses being borne privately , mostly out of pocket , compared to 6 % in developed countries such as UK . However , there is dismal situation in rural as well as urban India when one looks at the health indicators which are among the worst in the world today . Conclusion :
The neo-liberal policies pursued by the Congress and TDP government in Andhra Pradesh has lead to corporatization of health care leading to heightened disparities between the rich and poor . The state should strengthen the public health system at primary , secondary and tertiary level by allocating more resources in the health budget and filling the vacant positions . Allocation to the health and allied sectors should be substantively increased in the government expenditure to at least 5 % of GDP . The state should withdraw all financial incentives including the reimbursement schemes to the private health sector and route it through government ’ s tertiary hospitals . Public policy towards the private sector should be confined to the regulation of quality and pricing of medical care . ( Endnotes )
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Schroder Ventures group was run by Anil Thadani who started his private equity business in 1981 and had major investments in the hospitality sector . By the late 1980s he decided to invest in health care . In 1994 , Dr Reddy offered 25 percent equity interest in the Indraprastha Apollo hospital in Delhi . Thadani started investing in several projects in South East Asia , the leading one among them being Parkway Holdings in Singapore . Malaysian wealth fund Khazanah was one of the early investors still invested in the hospital chain , which picked up 5.5 million shares during 2005 for $ 44.23 million from TWL Holdings , an investment fund advised by Singapore-based PE firm Symphony Capital Partners . Khazanah had started consolidating its shares in AHEL in 2011 and currently holds 10.85 per cent share . OppenheimerFunds , a subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company , has another 8.39 percent stake . Apax Partners has reportedly sold 19 per cent stake in AHEL for Rs 2,240 crore through several transactions in the open market , giving it a three-fold return over a six-year period . It started picking up stake in 2007 , starting from the acquisition of 11.5 per cent shares in AHEL for $ 104 million ( Rs 420 crore at that time ). Later , it increased its stake In October 2013 , US-based PE firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts infused around Rs 550 crore in the holding company - PCR Investments -which was expected to be used to repay the promoters ’ debt
( Narasimhan , E . Business Standard ; 22 January 2015 ) �
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