The National Council of Applied Economic Research has conducted several surveys since 1986 to study the markets for a variety of consumer goods. As part of the fourth study in the series, the “market information survey of households (MISH)”, a household survey of medical care was conducted in 1990, to elicit information on the nature of illness suffered, sources of medical treatment and the cost of medical care. The results of the survey, published in 1992, evoked considerable interest among researchers and policy makers.

Bases on this experience, the council took up a more detailed Household Survey of Health Care Utilization and Expenditure in the summer months of 1993, covering most of the states and Union Territories of India. The results of this survey are presented in this report.