Budget expectations by Mr. A Ganesan, Group Vice Chairman, Neuberg Diagnostics

A Ganesan_Group Vice Chairman_Neuberg Diagnostics (002)

By Mr. A Ganesan, Group Vice Chairman, Neuberg Diagnostics

In view of the ongoing pandemic, India needs to reinvent its health system. By now, we would have identified the gaps and fragilities related to healthcare delivery. Therefore, its development must move in line with the goals set by the Government. The government is already encouraging domestic players for catering to wide domestic demands and exporting to other countries while cutting down India’s dependence on imports.

The domestic players can continue to fuel India’s growth in the healthcare sector and in order to make the ecosystem more vibrant and responsive, a few of the things that need immediate attention are:

  1. CGHS / EHS dues are not still being paid regularly, in spite of assurances by the Central Government. Besides the paperwork for submission of claims is so voluminous resulting in substantial hardships.
  2. MSME rules are only on paper and even government departments/agencies are not respecting these rules. The Government departments/agencies first should set an example by paying legitimate claims within due dates.
  3. GST on all supplies/services to Hospitals and Laboratories should be removed. Hospitals and labs have no output GST liability and hence the input credits cannot be availed by the Lab. In case the GST is abolished on supplies to Hospitals and Labs, the price to consumers will come down significantly.
  4. Health Insurance premiums, over the years, have become more expensive. To make it more affordable to larger sections of society, the GST on Health Insurance premiums should be withdrawn.
  5. As per section 80-D of the Income Tax Act, premiums paid by the individual taxpayers are allowed as deduction subject certain maximum amount, depending upon the age of the taxpayers. The maximum amount of deduction should be increased substantially to all categories of taxpayers.
  6. As per section 80-D, Preventive Health check expenditure up to a sum of Rs 5000 can be claimed as deduction, but this deduction is allowed subject to overall ceiling fixed. There has to be a separate deduction and the expenditure incurred has to be increased to Rs 15,000 and should be extended to the spouse of the taxpayer.

 About Neuberg Diagnostics:

Best-in-class laboratories across India, USA, UAE & South Africa have united under the banner of Neuberg Diagnostics, to bring the latest technology and techniques within the reach of developing countries. Utilizing their combined strengths, the Neuberg Alliance brings capabilities to perform over 6000 varieties of Pathological investigations and promotes Prevention & Early Diagnosis, Focused Wellness Programs and Structured Disease Management programs for rare diseases using the most advanced technologies assisted by Data science and AI tools.

Today, Neuberg Diagnostics is among the top diagnostics companies of Indian origin and the fastest growing healthcare start-up in India. The founding members of the Neuberg consortium – Anand Diagnostic Laboratory (Bangalore), Supratech Micropath (Ahmedabad), Ehrlich Laboratory (Chennai), Global Labs (South Africa), and Minerva Diagnostics (Dubai) bring their combined heritage of over 200 years, and process over 20 million tests annually. With 7 approved labs for Covid testing, the group has processed more than 1.5 million RT PCR Tests in India and South Africa. Some of the best Pathologists, Biochemists, Geneticists, Microbiologists and several other Clinical Lab Professionals from around the world are working closely, sharing knowledge and using the latest generation of diagnostics techniques to take accurate and timely diagnosis to the next level.

Apart from the coming together of leading players, green field laboratories have been established in Cochin, Trivandrum and Hyderabad. Currently the group has 70 labs and over 700 touch points across 4 countries. Our Indian Expansion plans include setting up a network of 500 collection centers across the country within the next 12 months. Our Overseas expansion plans include establishing a presence in East Africa, West Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, USA and Germany.

Neuberg also provides Hospital Laboratory Management Services, Preventive Health Checks, Corporate Wellness, Home Health Services and Drive through Phlebotomy Services.

About Neel Achary 18883 Articles
Neel Achary is the editor of Business News This Week. He has been covering all the business stories, economy, and corporate stories.