SC issues notice to Centre on plea seeking cap on pvt COVID-19 treatment cost

Asks if private hospitals ready to charge at Ayushman Bharat rate

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India on Friday issued a notice to the Central government on a Public Interest Litigation which cited directions issued by the Government of West Bengal to cap the price of COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals to seek an upper limit for private healthcare for patients infected with the novel Coronavirus.

The petitioner informed the court that several private hospitals were charging exorbitant amounts of money for treating COVID-19 patients and thus resulting in private healthcare becoming inaccessible to many in times of a pandemic where public healthcare facilities are already on the verge of being stretched.

The petition was heard by a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, MR Shah and V Ramasubramanian and the court issued a notice to the Centre through Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, asking him to file the Central government’s response to capping the price of COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals, listing the matter for next week.

Among other pleas made in the petition, the PIL sought for directions with respect to asking insurance companies to “immediately settle full claims” raised by private hospitals for Coronavirus patients in accordance with government-specified rates.

Meanwhile, a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde also heard a plea that sought all private hospitals to charge COVID-19 treatment rates as prescribed under the Ayushmaan Bharat Scheme for all patients and posted the matter after two weeks.

While Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for Healthcare Federation, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented the association of private hospitals against petitioner Sachin Jain, who argued that Ayushmaan Bharat rates should apply to all who wish to avail of private COVID-19 treatment.

When the CJI asked the petitioner if he wished no private hospital make a profit during this time, Jain submitted that the AB scheme rates had been planned while keeping in mind the profitability of hospitals. However, when asked whether the hospital association would be agreeable to these rates, Rohatgi said that it was not.

When the CJI asked the petitioner if he wished no private hospital make a profit during this time, Jain submitted that the AB scheme rates had been planned while keeping in mind the profitability of hospitals

Significantly, both Salve and Rohatgi submitted that hospitals were already complying with directions of the government, whereas, S-G Mehta informed the court that the AB scheme was intended to help out the lowest strata of society and had clear beneficiary categories.

Also, when Rohatgi cited the example of Ganga Ram Hospital being converted into a full COVID-19 facility and no private hospital making profits, the CJI had remarked, “That’s alright. You’re making a sacrifice for a good cause.”