HEALTH CARE

“My heartiest congratulations to this government for investing in creating a swasth bharat by launching the Ayushman Bharat programme. Such ambitious out of the box thinking was a burning need of the hour and the government has not disappointed. The initiative to cover 10 crore families with 5 lakh per family/per year with insurance cover for secondary and tertiary healthcare will be a gamechanger.” — Dr. Prathap Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals

“The allocation of Rs 1,200 crore for health and wellness centres clearly indicates that health sector has received utmost priority in this budget. It would be a welcome step if outpatient diagnostics costs/coverage is covered in this limit. The absence of coverage for outpatient care and pre-existing diseases is an impediment to a comprehensive and affordable health insurance cover.” — Arindam Haldar, CEO, SRL Diagnostics

“We congratulate the government on presenting a holistic budget for the common man and it is heartening to see that the government has taken initiatives to deliver on its promise of excellence in healthcare by announcing the world’s largest government funded healthcare programme. By providing Rs 5 lakh as medical insurance cover per year to crores of poor Indian families, the cost burden of quality healthcare will be lessened.” — Manoj Luthra, CEO, Jaypee Hospital