DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2017.v05i10.009

Pages: 1374-1376

Over 30 percent of Indians live in urban areas, and the proportion is projected to grow to 40 percent, or about 590 million people, by 2030. In Punjab, 73 out of 143 towns have reported slums. Ludhiana, Punjab’s most populated and rapidly growing metropolitan city had a population of 1,618,879, approximately, 15 per cent of which lived in slums. In India the out of pocket (OOP) health expenditure has been estimated as high as 89.2% pushing 40 million into poverty each year. This study will help the policy makers and health managers to come out with the mix of strategies like universalizing the health insurance and to conduct further operational research to gear up the health system as well to reduce the OOP. Health insurance was available to only 6.41% of the respondents while 60 % of the respondents are meeting their treatment needs from their own savings and 22% are borrowing to meet the expenditures. Overt reliance on private health care has to be regulated, to reduce OOP expenditure amongst the migrants. Effective universal health insurance can help in preventing the migrants in falling into the medical poverty trap.