- Why in news
- On 20 April 2026, MoSPI released the report 'Household Social Consumption: Health', based on the 80th round of the National Sample Survey (January–December 2025). It shows higher reported illness, 96% institutional births and health insurance coverage of nearly half the population.
- What it is
- The NSS Household Social Consumption: Health survey is a periodic national household survey run by MoSPI's National Sample Survey. It measures illness, hospitalization, childbirth, health insurance and out-of-pocket spending. It is a main source of data on how Indians use healthcare and what they pay for it.
- Survey round and period
- The health survey was done in the 80th NSS round during January–December 2025, and MoSPI published it as a report.
- Previous health surveys
- The first full-scale morbidity survey was in the 28th round (1973–74). Six more health surveys followed before this one.
Don’t confuse with NSS vs NSO: NSS is the survey programme; the National Statistics Office under MoSPI runs it.
Don’t confuse with NSS health survey vs NFHS: NFHS is run by the Health Ministry through IIPS. NSS health is run by MoSPI.
Reports and indices: 14 Prelims questions since 2013; they test who publishes a report and what it measures.
Why it matters
- Gives data on illness, hospital use and spending for health policy.
- Shows the shift from infections to lifestyle diseases, which needs a change in health priorities.
- Rising insurance and institutional births point to the reach of public schemes.
Problems
- Out-of-pocket spending is still high, especially in private hospitals (average ₹50,508 per case).
- Rising NCDs and an ageing population will raise the burden on health services.
Way forward
- Strengthen primary care and screening for NCDs.
- Widen insurance cover and reduce private out-of-pocket costs.
Put in your answer
Childbirth cost: The average out-of-pocket cost per childbirth was ₹2,299 in public hospitals against ₹14,775 across all hospitals.
- 2018Mains GS2 · Q7Explain why community-level healthcare is prerequisite for Health for All.
- 2015Mains GS2 · Q12Can private sector bridge universal health coverage gaps? Suggest alternatives.
- 2024Mains GS2 · Q17How can State contain marketisation and expand grassroots public healthcare reach?
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.