Health panel urges corporate hospitals to fund poor patients with medical tourism profits
A parliamentary health committee has recommended that corporate hospitals channel earnings from foreign and affluent Indian patients to subsidise care for poorer Indians.
In New Delhi, the parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare put forward a proposal urging corporate hospitals to implement a cross-subsidisation model. The plan calls for profits earned from foreign medical tourists and affluent Indian patients to be allocated toward subsidised treatment for poorer patients, reducing the cost of advanced care for low-income groups. Committee members argue that this approach could broaden access without requiring additional government funding.
The recommendation remains a policy suggestion and has not been codified into law. Adoption would require hospitals to earmark a portion of their revenue for subsidised services, reflecting broader debates on healthcare financing in India.
Why it matters
It proposes a way to expand affordable advanced healthcare for India's poor using existing hospital revenues.
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