Budget 2026: Healthcare Sector Eyes Reforms for Access, Affordability, Innovation
Overview
India's healthcare sector is pinning hopes on Union Budget 2026 for critical reforms. Industry leaders anticipate strengthened patient access, improved affordability, and a boost for medical innovation. Key demands include enhanced preventive care, early diagnostics, robust referral systems, and policy support for homegrown startups to compete globally. The focus is on a patient-centric approach, ensuring quality care reaches all, irrespective of location or income, while easing out-of-pocket expenses for families.
Budget 2026: Healthcare Sector Eyes Reforms for Access, Affordability, Innovation
The Indian healthcare sector is keenly awaiting the Union Budget 2026, with industry leaders urging for targeted reforms to enhance patient access, affordability, and medical innovation. The upcoming budget is seen as a potential turning point for improving timely treatment for millions struggling to access care.
Patient-Centric Reforms
Experts emphasize that healthcare support must extend beyond hospital treatment. A comprehensive approach, starting with prevention, early diagnosis, and efficient referral systems, is crucial. Annapurna Das, General Manager at Takeda India, highlighted that strengthening the entire patient journey, from initial prevention to accessing life-changing treatments, could define the budget's impact. Steady public spending on screening, diagnostics, and referral pathways is vital, particularly for patients managing cancer, rare diseases, and chronic conditions.
Driving Innovation and Affordability
A significant demand from the sector is accelerating access to novel treatments. While medical innovation progresses, many families continue to bear high out-of-pocket expenses. Das stressed the need for a clear, science-led policy environment that facilitates faster adoption of innovations while simultaneously alleviating the financial burden on households. Enhancing healthcare infrastructure, plasma-based therapies, and digital health systems are also priorities to ensure quality care reaches both urban and rural populations.
Empowering Indian Startups
Preventive healthcare is also a focal point, with early interventions expected to reduce hospital strain and long-term costs. Sudipta Sengupta, Founder and CEO of The Healthy Indian Project (THIP), called for government backing for Indian preventive health startups. He noted the rapid growth of global AI-driven health platforms and cautioned that without policy support, domestic startups may falter. Sengupta hopes for incentives, grants, and regulatory safeguards to empower Indian innovators in building trusted, evidence-based health ecosystems.
Overall Expectations
The overarching sentiment is a call for Budget 2026 to prioritize people and patient outcomes over mere statistics. Expectations range from early screening initiatives to affordable treatments and robust support for domestic medical innovation. The sector anticipates a budget that moves India closer to an equitable, resilient, and patient-centered healthcare system, ensuring quality care is accessible to all, irrespective of economic status or geographic location.
