Draft National Health Research Policy 2026

align country’s research more closely with its disease burden & public health priority

Ayushman Bharat Health Account

PIB: link

unique 14digit number to link all health records of a person (registration free of cost)
create digital health ecosystem, digitization of healthcare
features
- Electronic health records: storage and recrieval of patient info, medical history
- portable across healthcare providers
- transparent & accountable
ABHA Address: easy to remember username for people to access their health records and share it with healthcare providers
- eg. name@abdm is an ABHA address
benefits:
- unique, trustable identity
- unified benefits, eliminate need of hardcopies of reports, seamless access
- consent based sharing of medical history
- hassle free appointments, eg. scan code to book
- data driven diagnosis
integrates CGHS beneficiaries
pointers:
- ABHA number generation does NOT mean enrolment in Ayushman Bharat (similar name but they’re different)
- it is only an account to unify scattered health records, but ABHA number itself doesn’t make you eligible for any benefits

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health & Family Welfare - 176th Report on Affirdability & Accessibilyt of Healthcare Facilities in Pubilc & Private Sector
average cost of hospitaliation in pvt facility is Rs.50,500, 8x more than public hospital (Rs.6631)
Why? Expansion, corporatiation, Private Equity funded Multi speciality hospitals
Disporportionate childbirth costs: OOPE for institutional delivery in pvt hospital: Rs.37k
45% of total health expenditure remains out of pocket, & medical inflation b/w 10-13% annually
60% hospitalization & 70% OPD consultation in india is w/ Private hospitals

capping basic room rents
mandatory upfront cost disclosure
reviewing FDI in brownfield hospital acquisition: scrutinize FDI that merely buys out existing domestic hospitals
mandate standardized treatment packages for predictable costs

transition to diagnostic related groups for charging - fixed reimbursible rates per treatment episode
strengthen enforcement of Clinical Establishmint act
- transparent price display
- periodic clinical quality audits
incentivize greenfield hospital investment
deploying National Health Claims Exchange to reduce inflated OOPE
expand public healthcare spending towards 2.5% of GDP