Amid rising medical expenses in the country, the central government is preparing to curb arbitrary billing of private hospitals. According to media reports, the Health Ministry is considering a scheme under which a limit can be set on the fees charged by hospitals.
According to the report, the government particularly wants to control the huge profits charged by hospitals on medical devices and consumables (such as syringes, cannulas, gloves, etc.). Under the proposed system, hospitals will not be able to charge more than a certain percentage on the cost of these products.
In fact, investigation has revealed that many private hospitals charge 10 to 30 times more money from patients than the actual cost. For example, a syringe worth Rs 3 is billed up to Rs 30 and a cannula worth Rs 6 is billed up to Rs 120. At the same time, there have been cases of charging many times higher prices on expensive equipment like pacemakers and heart valves.
Such overbilling not only increases the financial burden on patients, but also puts pressure on the health insurance sector. Due to rising hospital expenses, insurance premiums are continuously increasing, making health services expensive for the common people.
Before implementing this proposal, the government is in discussion with various stakeholders including representatives of insurance companies, medical device industry and hospitals. Its objective is to create such a balanced structure, which provides relief to the patients and the services of the hospitals are not affected.
Apart from this, the central government has already directed the states to fix package rates for private hospitals and bring transparency in billing. This step is also considered important towards making health services affordable.
If this scheme is implemented, it can reduce the cost of treatment of patients and increase transparency in the health system. However, it may also be challenging to implement, as the consent of private hospitals and industry parties will be required.
