Head to Head

It is a very difficult thing to implement and IMA is against it. It can only be done if the deficiency is made good by the government. I also run a charitable hospital. We pay our staff from what we get from the patients who pay for their treatment. But for support from charity it would not have been possible to run it.

It’s mostly bigger hospitals, which are supported by big money, that are charging exorbitantly. To regulate rates in smaller hospitals will be very difficult. Just look at health insurance. For tonsillectomy, an insurance company will pay ~45,000 for treatment at a bigger hospital and insist on giving only ~25,000 if the treatment is in a hospital such as The system in America is very good. The rates there are fixed, no matter where you get that particular surgery done. That system should be brought in here, but in a rational way after calculating the costs involved. Or else, hospitals will compromise on the quality of the equipment they use to cut costs and this could increase the risk of infection. This will then also lead to unnecessary manipulation of records. A lot of unnecessary surgeries will be performed and expensive drugs prescribed just to make money. They already are. Don’t also make these charges fixed because every year the cost of running a hospital also goes up. In 1996, the electricity charges and water and house tax for my hospital came to ~25,000. They have now gone up to ~1.25 lakh. Similarly, staff salaries also increase every year. So, keep that in mind. You cannot have fixed charges.

Rationalise the charges but not in a way that hospitals cannot run.

Rationalise the charges but not in a way that hospitals cannot run. Or else, hospitals will compromise on the quality of equipment