Universal health is a health care system that provides health care and financial protection to all citizens of a particular country. It is organized around providing a specified package of benefits to all members of a society with the end goal of providing financial risk protection, improved access to health services, and quality of healthcare system ..
Universal health care can be determined by three critical dimensions: who is covered, what services are covered, and how much of the cost is covered. It is described by the World Health Organization as a situation where citizens can access health services without incurring financial hardship.
Medical emergencies come unannounced. Being protected under health cover is no longer an option but has become a compulsion. Only 1.1 billion of the Indian population which is less than 15% of the Indian population is covered through health insurance. According to WHO statistics 31% and 47% of the hospital admissions in urban and rural India are either financed by loans or through sale of assets. Additionally as per the statistics, 70% of Indians spend their entire income on healthcare and 3.2% of Indians fall under the poverty line owing to high medical bills.
Talking about universal health this is also fact that for many families hospitalization means spending money out of the pocket to pay the hospital bills. Most of the people deal with the common situation when they do not have adequate cash to deal with a sudden medical emergency. In such a case a Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna act as a blessing.
Health is an important cornerstone to the Government’s vision of development, ‘Swasth Bharat, Samriddha Bharat (Healthy India, Prosperous India). To fulfil the vision of Health for All and Universal Health Coverage, enshrined in the National Health Policy 2017, the Government conceived Áyushman Bharat’ (Healthy India), a pioneering initiative led by Hon’ble Prime Minister.