Health Ministry to consult states for uniform healthcare rates nationwide: Report

The health ministry will start consultation with the state governments this week to make the health care costs uniform across the nation, reported The Economic Times. As per the report, the Health Ministry will take suggestions from the state governments to fix charges for treatments at health care centres across the nation.

Uniform treatment charge

This comes after Supreme Court raised concerns over the wide variation in treatment costs between government and private healthcare centres. It also directed the centre to expeditiously fix treatment charges to be paid by patients. The Apex court has given siz weeks time for implementing it.

The Supreme Court further cristicised the Centre for failing to fix a range of rates within which private hospitals and clinics can charge patients. The court also noted that though a rule in this regard was made 12 years ago, the government has not enforced it yet.

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It was the Supreme Court that suggested the Central Health Secretary to meet with its state counterparts to set the price range, ending the disparity in rates and ensuring notification of a standard rate within a month.

"Health is a state subject; the Centre can only to some extent direct the states. However, as suggested by the court, we will hold consultations to seek their suggestions and file a reply before the Supreme Court," a person in the know told The Economic Times.

The Supreme Court further asserted that citizens have a fundamental right to healthcare, and the government cannot evade its responsibility in ensuring this right while highlighting the stark difference in treatment costs between government and private healthcare centres

Plea by association of healthcare providers

Meanwhile, the Association of Healthcare Providers (AHPI) that represents small and medium hospitals will file an intervention with the Supreme Court on behalf of the industry this week, Girdhar Gyani, director general of the association, told ET.

The report further mentioned that Gyani has written to the Health Ministry recommending working out costing of various procedures based on established scientific principles and fixing rates in the 'range' to address the categorisation of establishments.

Likewise Private hospitals have also said that the move will be catastrophic for the industry as there are too many variables involved.

"The cost depends on so many other factors, even geographies. The input cost is higher in Delhi than in UP. Since the minimum wages are lower in UP, the hospital may choose to pass it on to the patients. But the same cannot be applied in a place like Delhi. If it is standardised, the quality will suffer," an executive told The Economic Times.

Another Executive told The Economic Times that the cost structure is different in each hospital "as it depends on various factors like the experience of the doctors, facilities in the OT, the kind of infection control policy which is adopted by the hospital, patient safety measures, IT services etc." "Price cannot be standardised for a big hospital and a small clinic," the executive told the Publication.