<P> Public healthcare is free for those below the poverty line . The public health care system was originally developed in order to provide a means to healthcare access regardless of socioeconomic status . However, reliance on public and private healthcare sectors varies significantly between states . Several reasons are cited for relying on the private rather than public sector; the main reason at the national level is poor quality of care in the public sector, with more than 57% of households pointing to this as the reason for a preference for private health care . Most of the public healthcare caters to the rural areas; and the poor quality arises from the reluctance of experienced healthcare providers to visit the rural areas . Consequently, the majority of the public healthcare system catering to the rural and remote areas relies on inexperienced and unmotivated interns who are mandated to spend time in public healthcare clinics as part of their curricular requirement . Other major reasons are distance of the public sector facility, long wait times, and inconvenient hours of operation . </P> <P> Different factors related to public healthcare are divided between the state and national government systems in terms of making decisions, as the national government addresses broadly applicable healthcare issues such as overall family welfare and prevention of major diseases, while the state governments handle aspects such as local hospitals, public health, promotion and sanitation, which differ from state to state based on the particular communities involved . Interaction between the state and national governments does occur for healthcare issues that require larger scale resources or present a concern to the country as a whole . </P> <P> Following the 2014 election which brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi to office, Modi's government unveiled plans for a nationwide universal health care system known as the National Health Assurance Mission, which would provide all citizens with free drugs, diagnostic treatments, and insurance for serious ailments . In 2015, implementation of a universal health care system was delayed due to budgetary concerns . </P> <P> With the help of numerous government subsidies in the 1980s, private health providers entered the market . In the 1990s, the expansion of the market gave further impetus to the development of the private health sector in India . After 2005, most of the healthcare capacity added has been in the private sector, or in partnership with the private sector . </P>

Percent of gdp spent on healthcare in india