SC: Can pvt hospitals treat patients at Ayushman rate?
Top court remarks follows PIL seeking to cap upper limit on Covid treatment
The Supreme Court, on Friday, asked the private hospitals if they are ready to treat Covid-19 patients on the rates fixed under the Ayushman Bharat even as the Centre told the court that it can’t direct charitable hospitals to give free treatment to patients inflicted with corona virus.
“I just want to know if hospitals are ready to charge at Ayushman rates for treating Covid-19 patients,” Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde heading the bench comprising Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice Hrishikesh Roy asked senior counsel Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi.
In another PIL seeking to cap the upper limit on the cost of Covid-19 treatment by private hospitals, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan sought response from the Centre giving it a week’s time.
At the outset of the hearing, CJI Bobde said, “We will not pass the general directions to all the hospitals, but limit it to charitable hospitals who have
A hairdresser in personal protective suit attends to a customer at a hair salon in New Delhi on Friday.
invaluable land (either free or at nominal rate). They should treat people free.”
The court poser to private hospitals came in the course of the hearing of a PIL by one Sachin Jain seeking directions that the cost of treatment of Covid patients in private hospitals across the country be minimum and charitable trusts may do it on no profit basis.
Telling the court that footfall of non-Covid patients have come down by 70 per cent, Mr Salve said, “Revenues for hospitals
have fallen. People have stopped coming to hospitals due to Covid reasons. Private hospitals’ revenue is down by 60 to 70 per cent.” Mr Salve appeared for Healthcare Federation and Mr Rohatgi appeared for an association of private hospitals.
The entire issue of treating Covid-19 patients — who are not covered under Ayushman Bharat — at the rates fixed under the scheme, came to the fore as petitioner Sachin Jain told the court that for treating a Covid-19 patient covered under the Central scheme a private hospital gets Rs 4,000, which has a component of profit in it, but a patient on the bed next to him is charged `50,000.
Summing up the argument by Mr Jain, CJI Bobde said, “We want to know, if we make an order that they (private hospitals) shall work on cost basis and no profit, would that serve the purpose of the plea?”
Responding to the May 27 query by the court as to why private hospitals, built on a government land given to them for free, don’t provide free of cost treatment to Covid-19 patients or at a minimal cost, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that the government, under the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010, has no statutory power to direct private and charitable hospitals to give free treatment to Covid-19 patients. As private hospitals wanted time to respond to the top court’s query if they were agreeable to provide Covid treatment on the rates fixed under Ayushman Bharat, the court adjourned the hearing by two weeks.