A new study on Publicly Funded Health Insurance (PFHI) in the context of ‘health expenditure’ revealed that 30% of elderly people under publicly funded health coverage faced a massive expenditure during hospitalization at private facilities. On the other hand, 7% of the elderly faced a similar expenditure while using public facilities. Health expenditure is considered to be catastrophic or massive when it accounts for 25% or more of the total annual consumption expenditure of a household. 

The study showed that the reliance of the elderly population on the poorly regulated private sector is a key limitation of PFHI policy. Hence, the government needs to find more effective ways of protecting the elderly from massive health expenditures if the goal of Universal Health Coverage has to be realized. 

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/public-health-cover-no-shield-against-high-expenses-study/92992638 )