Economic-Status Related Inequalities in Health Care Utilisation in the Indian States: Evidence from NSS 52nd Round Data on Inpatient Care

This paper examines economic-status related inequalities in the utilisation of inpatient care for major Indian states using the central sample of NSS 52nd round data. Kerala shows the lowest inequality compared to other major Indian states. In the urban sector there seems to be a negative relationship between average rate of inpatient care utilisation and inequality in the utilisation of inpatient care. Exploration of other related factors suggests that lower availability of government hospitals and higher incidence of poverty could be some of the possible factors contributing to higher inequality in the utilisation of inpatient care.