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Govt may bring health claims portal under FinMin to tackle inflated costs
The move is aimed at strengthening oversight of the portal, which currently operates under the National Health Authority (NHA) of the ministry of health and family welfare, and improving transparency in pricing and billing practices across the health insurance sector, the report added.
Overcharging in hospitals, increased premiums
According to the report, a joint analysis by the government and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) found that hospitals were overcharging patients with higher insurance coverage, leading to increased premiums and reduced affordability of health insurance for many.
Recent data from the General Insurance Council show that standalone health insurers collected ₹9,151 crore in premiums in the first quarter of the financial year 2026, marking a 10 per cent year-on-year increase.
Bringing the portal under financial regulation could help control spiralling costs, a source told Reuters.
The NHCX was developed in consultation with Irdai but is not currently regulated by it. Instead, the insurance regulator only oversees insurers using the platform.
According to professional service firm Aon's Global Medical Trend Rates Report 2025, healthcare costs in India are projected to increase by 13 per cent in 2025, surpassing the global average of 10 per cent and exceeding the 12 per cent increase in 2024.
Meanwhile, growth in health insurance premium income has slowed to 9 per cent in 2024–25 from over 20 per cent the previous year, with insurers attributing the dip to rising premiums and falling renewals, the Reuters report said.
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Time of India
16 hours ago
- Time of India
Somalia faces diphtheria surge amid vaccine shortages and aid cuts
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First Post
18 hours ago
- First Post
87 deaths, over 1,600 cases: Somalia sees diphtheria surge as Trump aid cuts hamper vaccination
Somalia is battling a sharp rise in diphtheria cases and deaths, with over 1,600 infections and 87 fatalities recorded this year. Health officials blame vaccine shortages and steep US aid cuts for crippling vaccination efforts, leaving thousands of children at risk. A child suffering from diphtheria rests inside a ward at De Martino Public Hospital, following a diphtheria outbreak, in Mogadishu, Somalia. Reuters Diphtheria cases and deaths have risen sharply this year in Somalia, where the response has been curtailed by vaccine shortages and US aid cuts, Somali officials said. More than 1,600 cases, including 87 deaths, have been recorded, up from 838 cases and 56 deaths in all of 2024, said Hussein Abdukar Muhidin, the general director of Somalia's National Institute of Health. Diphtheria, a bacterial disease that causes swollen glands, breathing problems and fever and mostly affects children, is preventable with a vaccine that became widely available in the mid-20th century. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Childhood immunisation rates in Somalia have improved over the past decade, but hundreds of thousands of children are still not fully vaccinated. After fleeing fighting between government forces and Islamist militants in the central Somalia town of Ceeldheere three months ago, all four of Deka Mohamed Ali's children, none of whom was vaccinated, contracted diphtheria. Her 9-year-old daughter recovered, but her 8-year-old son died and two toddlers are now being treated at a hospital in the capital Mogadishu. 'My children got sick and I just stayed at home because I did not know it was diphtheria,' she told Reuters from the bedside of her 3-year-old son Musa Abdullahi whose throat was swollen to the size of a lemon from the infection. Health Minister Ali Haji Adam said the government had struggled to procure enough vaccines due to a global shortage and that US aid cuts were making it difficult to distribute the doses it had. Before President Donald Trump cut most foreign assistance earlier this year, the United States was the leading humanitarian donor to Somalia, whose health budget is almost entirely funded by donors. 'The US aid cut terribly affected the health funds it used to provide to Somalia. Many health centres closed. Mobile vaccination teams that took vaccines to remote areas lost funding and now do not work,' said Adam. Muhidin separately echoed his comments about the closures. Overall US foreign assistance commitments to Somalia stand at $149 million for the fiscal year that ends on September 30, compared with $765 million in the previous fiscal year, according to US government statistics. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The United States continues to provide lifesaving foreign assistance in Somalia,' a US State Department spokesperson said when asked about the impact of its aid cuts in the country. 'America is the most generous nation in the world, and we urge other nations to dramatically increase their humanitarian efforts.' Aid group Save the Children said last month that the closure of hundreds of health clinics in Somalia this year due to foreign cuts has contributed to a doubling in the number of combined cases of diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, cholera and severe respiratory infections since mid-April. Besides the US, Britain, France, Germany and other major Western donors are also cutting aid budgets. Somalia's government has also faced criticism from doctors and human rights activists for its limited funding of the health sector. In 2024, it allocated 4.8% of its budget to health, down from 8.5% the previous year, Amnesty International said. The health ministry did not respond to a question about that criticism. It has said it is planning to launch a vaccination drive but has not given details when. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Hindustan Times
20 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
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