Health Financing in Rajasthan: A Need of Hour

The financing pattern of the health care system in a country largely determines the volume of health care available to the population and also the extent and ease of access of the poor to health care. Objectives of the paper are to examine the trend in public health expenditure; to observe the pattern of inpatient and outpatient treatment and to assess the impact of implementation of Mukhya Mantri Nishulk Dawa Yojana (MNDY) scheme on outpatient care. Data is obtained from secondary sources such as various budget documents and reports of government of Rajasthan. Pre and post scheme growth rate have been calculated and chow test is also employed to see whether structural changes are found in the number of people seeking outpatient treatment after the introduction of MNDY scheme. Because of the state government's free medicines and diagnostics schemes, the number of patients seeking medical care from public health system increased between 2010 and 2014. It is quite evident from the analysis that the number of patients accessing public health facilities had doubled since 2010. It should be strengthened and made more comprehensive.