How much do government and households spend on an episode of hospitalisation in India? A comparison for public and private hospitals in Chhattisgarh state.

Government and households put together spent substantially more per hospitalisation in private hospitals than public hospitals in Chhattisgarh. This has important implications for the allocative efficiency and the desired public-private provider-mix. Using public resources for purchasing inpatient care services from private providers may not be a suitable strategy for such contexts.