Road to universal health coverage: unique model of Karnataka, India

Abstract

With the goal of achieving universal health coverage (UHC), Karnataka, a national leader in healthcare, launched the Arogya Karnataka scheme in March 2018. It was later integrated with the government of India's national health protection scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to help with financial protection for accessing curative care at the secondary and tertiary levels through collaboration with the public and private sectors. The AB-PMJAY is a rare opportunity to enhance the health of hundreds of millions of Indians and get rid of a significant cause of the country's poverty. The study intends to define the State's distinctive characteristics with relation to AB-PMJAY-ArK and to highlight the State's top initiatives through the scheme. Karnataka has a unique scheme even if it is integrated due to various striking features. The country has an opportunity to address persistent and deeply ingrained issues with governance, quality assurance, and stewardship owing to AB-PMJAY-ArK. The complete approach used by the AB-PMJAY-ArK cell of the department of health and family welfare, government of Karnataka has enhanced the performance of public health institutions and can be adopted as a model by all the Indian States. Access to care, compliance, and timely assistance have all drastically enhanced. This has improved national health indices, but more crucially, it has led to the development of a bigger and stronger public health system, leading the road to UHC.