Healthcare Becomes Dearer

Healthcare may become dearer in India as per the proposed amendments announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during the recent budget session.

Healthcare experts are not happy with the proposed amendments in service tax which will be levied on 320 segments instead of the earlier 117. This is not an encouraging piece of news for the hospitals coming up in the country.

According to the proposed amendments, AC hospitals with more than 25 beds will fall under the stipulations of service tax, a move which has disappointed many experts in the healthcare industry.

This will only make health care costs more dearer to patients as they will need to cough up 10% more on hospital bills. The healthcare industry experts feel that the government must tweak the proposed amendment to exclude medicines and consumables from the total bill. In all, the new healthcare budget may hamper the growth of the healthcare industry.

Source: Medindia