For a family of four, that translates to ₹10,788 annually, or nearly ₹899 every month.

A year earlier, the same family spent ₹9,796. In a single year, household healthcare expenditure in Telangana increased by nearly ₹1,000 per family.

The figures come from the National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates 2022-23 released by the Union Health Ministry on May 27.

Alongside the report, the ministry highlighted what it described as a decade-long improvement in India's healthcare financing indicators.

"Between 2013-14 and 2022-23, the share of OOPE in THE declined significantly by nearly 21 percentage points, from 64.2% to 43.4%," the ministry stated, adding that policy interventions had moved the country "towards a more affordable, equitable, and accessible healthcare system for all."

However, the latest annual data also shows that during 2022-23, government health expenditure declined nationally while household spending increased.

Government Health Expenditure (GHE) across India fell from ₹4,34,163 crore in 2021-22 to ₹3,85,332 crore in 2022-23, a reduction of nearly ₹49,000 crore. During the same period, total out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) increased from ₹3,56,254 crore to ₹3,82,629 crore, an increase of ₹26,375 crore nationally.

What the Telangana numbers show

According to the NHA estimates, Telangana's Total Health Expenditure (THE) stood at ₹26,040 crore in 2022-23, equivalent to 2% of the state's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), below the national average of 3.37% of GDP.

Government Health Expenditure accounted for 41.1% of Telangana's THE in 2022-23, down from 46.2% in 2021-22, marking a decline of 5.1 percentage points within a year.

At the same time, out-of-pocket expenditure accounted for 39.4% of THE, up from 37.6% in the previous year.

Per capita government health expenditure in Telangana declined from ₹3,007 in 2021-22 to ₹2,814 in 2022-23, a reduction of ₹193 per person.

Against this, households spent ₹2,697 per person directly from their own pockets during the same year. The gap between government spending and household spending narrowed to ₹117 per person annually.

What Aarogyasri covers, and what it does not

Telangana operates Aarogyasri, one of the country's older state-funded health insurance programmes, which provides cashless hospitalisation coverage for a range of listed medical conditions.

Government-financed health insurance expenditure through PM-JAY Aarogyasri in Telangana increased from ₹150 crore in 2021-22 to ₹261 crore in 2022-23.

Nationally, expenditure under PM-JAY more than doubled from ₹4,625 crore to ₹9,328 crore during the same period.

However, Telangana's total out-of-pocket expenditure in 2022-23 stood at ₹10,249 crore, substantially higher than the amount spent through insurance coverage mechanisms.

A significant portion of healthcare expenditure continues to arise from outpatient consultations, medicines purchased from pharmacies, diagnostic investigations, and long-term treatment for chronic illnesses - areas that remain outside the effective coverage of many hospitalisation-focused insurance schemes.

Hyderabad and other urban regions in Telangana report high burdens of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and thyroid disorders, many of which require continuous medication and repeated follow-up consultations.

National Health Accounts data also show that pharmacies accounted for 21.19% of Current Health Expenditure (CHE) in 2022-23, up from 19.35% in the previous year.

In contrast, the share of expenditure through government hospitals declined from 18.99% to 16.73% nationally during the same period.

Private hospitals accounted for 30.83% of Current Health Expenditure in 2022-23, up from 26.96% the previous year.

Where Telangana stands nationally

Among major states, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest out-of-pocket burden in the country, with OOPE accounting for 66.1% of Total Health Expenditure.

Karnataka recorded one of the lowest household expenditure burdens among large states. Its OOPE share stood at 29.2% of THE in 2022-23, with per capita OOPE at ₹2,049.

Telangana remained closer to the national average than to either extreme, though the 2022-23 data shows movement toward higher household spending and lower government contribution compared to the previous year.

The National Health Accounts data over the past decade indicate a gradual increase in public health expenditure nationally. However, the latest figures also show that household expenditure continues to remain a major source of healthcare financing, particularly for medicines, diagnostics, outpatient care, and chronic disease management.