Poor people's illness is a burden on their pocket!
'Out of pocket expenditure' (OOPE) means when a person spends money directly from his pocket for the treatment of his illness. This expenditure can be on things like medicines, doctor's fees, tests and hospitalization.
This expenditure can be very heavy for poor people, because they often do not have savings. Many times they have to take loans for treatment or have to stop getting treatment. Due to this expenditure, they become even more poor.
When the Government of India is claiming free treatment and cheap medicines are available in hospitals, then this expenditure should be less, but it is not so.
What does the National health Account say?
According to the National health Account (NHA), out of pocket expenditure is the expenditure that any person pays immediately from his pocket while getting treatment. This includes the cost of hospitalization, the cost of consulting a doctor outside, the cost of childbirth, the cost of care during and after pregnancy, the cost of family planning items, the cost of equipment used in treatment, the cost of patient travel, the cost of vaccination, the cost of medicines bought directly from the shop and other medical expenses such as blood, oxygen, etc. However, the National health Account does not keep a record of the health expenditure of each household separately.
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