Covid rips India’s safety net. Stitch it anew: Bloomberg May 10, 2021, 8:37 AM IST in Foreign Media, India, politics, TOI
Facebook
By Anjani Trivedi and Andy Mukherjee
Covid-19 related deaths in India are expected to double in the coming weeks. People across socioeconomic classes are being cremated en masse in large holes in the ground. The ordeal doesn’t even end with death. Medical bills are piling up, a burden large enough to tip working-class families into multi-generational poverty. Younger adults desperate for vaccines are effectively being forced to pay for them, while those most at risk aren’t adequately insured. The state’s threadbare safety net has all but collapsed.
Covid-19 related deaths in India are expected to double in the coming weeks. People across socioeconomic classes are being cremated en masse in large holes in the ground. The ordeal doesn’t even end with death. Medical bills are piling up, a burden large enough to tip working-class families into multi-generational poverty. Younger adults desperate for vaccines are effectively being forced to pay for them, while those most at risk aren’t adequately insured. The state’s threadbare safety net has all but collapsed. In normal times, most Indians use savings, borrow and call on friends and family to pay for health care, assuming it’s accessible. Out-of-pocket expenses are among the highest in the world. More than 60% of the population isn’t covered by insurance. Government workers can get some protection under a few different plans, but most others, including the self-employed, pay for their own treatment. Costs are rising because of a growing dependence on private hospitals
Synopsis
India is now considering setting up a fund worth at least Rs 1 lakh crore to support the uninsured, media reports said last week. Helping the population through a third wave is the obvious priority. But now is the time for policy makers to get serious about a minimum and rising standard of care for everyone.
A hospital queue, in Patna. The pandemic will eventually recede, but scarred citizens won’t want to face such despair again.
Covid-19 related deaths in India are expected to double in the coming weeks. People across socioeconomic classes are being cremated en masse in large holes in the ground. The ordeal doesn’t even end with death. Medical bills are piling up, a burden large enough to tip working-class families into multi-generational poverty. Younger adults desperate for vaccines are effectively being forced to pay for them, while those most at risk aren’t adequately insured. The state’s threadbare safety net has all but collapsed.
Jugaad Can t Fix A Broken System. Time To Rebuild Health Care
Jugaad Can t Fix A Broken System. Time To Rebuild Health Care
Updated: May 10, 2021 11:34 am IST
Covid-19 related deaths in India are expected to double in the coming weeks. People across socioeconomic classes are being cremated en masse in large holes in the ground. The ordeal doesn t even end with death. Medical bills are piling up, a burden large enough to tip working-class families into multi-generational poverty. Younger adults desperate for vaccines are effectively being forced to pay for them, while those most at risk aren t adequately insured. The state s threadbare safety net has all but collapsed.
PBS Again Uses Taxpayer Dollars To Push Big Government Health Policies
April 26, 2021
In selling his $1.9 trillion “COVID relief” package, President Biden asked a rhetorical question of Republicans in February: “What would they have me cut?” For starters, why not get taxpayer-funded “news” agencies out of the business of promoting big-government health policies?
That’s the gist of a PBS special, “Critical Care: America vs. the World,” that first aired on April 21. Compiled by the staff of “PBS NewsHour,” the special’s attempts to show balance only highlighted the bias of its underlying political premise.
Examination of Four Countries
The special, much of which was taped just prior to the COVID outbreak last winter, builds off prior “NewsHour” segments examining other countries’ health-care systems. The hour-long program attempts to demonstrate the pros and cons of four systems those in Great Britain, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada and see how th