No shortcuts to hiking health spend to 2.5% of GDP

The article critically analyzes India's healthcare system, highlighting the persistent low public health expenditure (1.4% of GDP against the 2017 National Health Policy target of 2.5%). It discusses the challenges in regulating the dominant private healthcare sector, citing the ineffectiveness of the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010, and the government's stance that 'health is a State subject' in Supreme Court proceedings. The piece also points out the problematic nature of a Parliamentary Standing Committee's report, the influx of private equity leading to healthcare inflation, and the limited impact of government schemes like PMJAY due to implementation issues and lack of oversight.