No More Hospital Bill Fear for Poor & Middle Class?

One of the biggest burdens faced by Indian households is bearing the cost of medical treatments at corporate hospitals. Due to lack of proper facilities and equipment at government run hospitals, public often turn towards private firms for medical needs ranging from basic consultations to costly life saving treatments.

As private hospitals are operated on commercial basis, there is no cap on the billing for medical treatments. Some costs are beyond the reach of middle class and poor families. Many instances where such category of people reach out to the government or the public for need of funds to cover expensive treatments are often noticed on social media platforms nowadays. 

Moreover, private players charge different prices for various treatments across the country based on the location and the reputation of the firm. Many a time, public complain about overbilling and rising medical costs which burn the pockets of low income groups. 

There is often a debate on why the government has never intervened to put an end to what the public call as ‘Medical Mafia’ or ‘Medical Syndicate’. Now, for the first time, the government seems to have finally decided to consider ways to curb the medical costs, including potentially putting a cap on trade margins on a variety of medical devices in the country. 

According to the latest reports, the health ministry, which is the apex medical body of the government, is reportedly mulling a proposal to cap the margins that hospitals can charge on a broad range of medical devices. This comes amid rising scrutiny on alleged overbilling by private hospitals. 

The ministry is likely to put forward a framework so that hospitals will be barred from billing beyond a fixed margin over the cost or landing price of medical devices and other treatments. It is currently holding discussions with the stakeholders including insurance firms to arrive at a viable solution for both the private hospitals and also the common public. 

From both low-cost everyday use devices such as syringes, cannulas and gloves to more costly devices including pacemakers, heart valves and other life saving equipment, all entities might be brought under the cap to regulate the prices. 

Moreover, due to the rising costs of medical treatments, the prices of the insurance premiums are also on the surge every year. So, the limit on the hospital billing aims not only to enhance transparency in the healthcare industry and ease burden on the public but also to keep insurance premiums under check.

If the government really goes ahead with this plan of action and comes up with a strict framework to made healthcare more affordable, it will be a huge relief for the public.