Healthcare Expenditure — Policy Reforms

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
National Health Policy 2017	2017	While not a constitutional amendment, the National Health Policy 2017 represents a significant policy 'amendment' to India's health financing strategy. It explicitly set a target to increase public health expenditure to 2.5% of GDP by 2025 and reduce Out-of-Pocket Expenditure to below 30% of THE. It also emphasized a shift towards preventive and promotive health, and strengthening primary healthcare.	This policy provided a clear roadmap and targets for increasing government investment in health, influencing subsequent Union and State budgets, and guiding the design of schemes like Ayushman Bharat. It aimed to reorient the health system towards universal health coverage and reduce the financial burden on households, though implementation challenges persist.
Launch of Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY)	2018	The launch of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) in 2018 marked a paradigm shift in health financing by introducing the world's largest government-funded health assurance scheme. It provides a health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care to vulnerable families, aiming to reduce catastrophic health expenditure.	PM-JAY significantly altered the landscape of health expenditure by providing financial protection to a large segment of the population, thereby reducing OOP for hospitalization. It also incentivized private sector participation in government-funded schemes and spurred investment in health infrastructure, particularly in underserved areas, though its impact on overall public health spending as a percentage of GDP is still evolving.