Implications of age structural transition and longevity improvements on health spending in India

With the longevity improvements it is pertinent to know whether the extended years of life are going to be spend in healthy or worsened state. Financing health which is one of the critical determinants of health outcomes is further determined by population structure as the higher prevalence of morbidity among elderly causes elevated health expenditure which turns into more requirement of money under the assumption that the elderly are treated equally to younger. With longevity improvements and age structural transition the old aged population is expected to grow from 6.7 (2001) to 19.1 percent by 2050 in India. This needs a simultaneous future growth of health expenditure in India. The study found that though, number of healthy years has increased but this increase is not in the same pace as increase in life expectancy. Moreover, age structure transition has role in health spending and if it is taken into account in projection, health spending will reach at 6.5 percent as percent to GDP in 2050. Though, per capita health spending is found to be significantly higher among elderly, its contribution is very high among young population because of large size.