Coronavirus: SC seeks Centre’s response on plea asking private hospitals to cap treatment cost
Last month, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to identify private hospitals where coronavirus patients could be treated for free or at a minimum cost.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to respond to petition seeking a cap on fees charged by private hospitals for coronavirus treatment, Live Law reported. The top court will hear the matter next week.
The petitioner in the case had argued that private hospitals across the country were charging exorbitant prices for the treatment of coronavirus patients and only affluent people could afford it. They added that the arbitrary process of admission to hospitals was also biased towards well-off patients. The petitioner also said that the government should fix prices charged by private quarantine facilities.
The top court bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, MR Shah and V Ramasubramanian directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to submit the Centre’s response to the petition and said that it would hear the matter next week.
On Thursday, the Centre had told the top court that it had no authority to direct private and charitable hospitals in the country to provide free treatment to coronavirus patients.
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Last month, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to identify private hospitals where coronavirus patients could be treated for free or at a minimum cost. The top court had issued the direction on a petition claiming that private hospitals in the country were commercially exploiting patients to make a “fortune out of their miseries” amid the health crisis.
The Delhi government on Wednesday, meanwhile, ordered three hospitals to reserve 10% of their beds for coronavirus patients belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections.
There have been several reports of patients struggling to find hospital beds as states grapple with the escalating health crisis. On June 2, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a mobile application called “Delhi Corona” that would provide information about Covid-19 beds and ventilators in public as well as private hospitals across the Capital. Several residents, however, said that the figures for bed availability did not tally with the information they were being given by hospital authorities.
‘Ready to provide treatment at charges under Ayushman Bharat?’
The Supreme Court on Friday asked private hospitals if they were ready to provide treatment to coronavirus patients at the charges that have been prescribed under the government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, PTI reported. The top court will hear the matter after two weeks.
The Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana is meant to provide health cover to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society.
A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy said that the court was not asking private hospitals to treat certain number of coronavirus patients for free. The bench said it was only referring to the private hospitals, which have been given land at concessional rates, to treat certain number of Covid-19 patients.
“I just want to know if hospitals are ready to charge [patients] at Ayushman rates?” the chief justice asked.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said that the government was doing its best for the lowest section of the society. He said that people who cannot afford the treatment have been covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 2,26,770 on Friday morning after 9,851 more people tested positive for the infection in 24 hours. This is the biggest single-day increase in the number of cases. The country’s toll rose by 273 to 6,348.
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