[BREAKING] Kerala High Court approves State govt decision to cap Covid treatment price, reserve 50% beds in private hospitals for COVID patients

The Kerala High Court on Monday approved the decision of the Kerala government to impose a ceiling on the price charged by private hospitals for COVID treatment..The Government order (GO) which also mandated that all hospitals should reserve 50 percent of its beds for COVID patients was a given a green signal by the High Court which proceeded to direct that the same be implemented strictly..“GO dated May 10, 2021 shall be implemented by the government and all stakeholders and any admissions after this order will be governed by the rates. All private hospitals would be bound to offer treatment strictly as per GO and any violation will be strictly dealt with,” the Court ordered..We are more than pleased with the GO, a Bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Kauser Edappagath added. It provides grievance redressal mechanism and the ambit of tariff that can be charged by the private sector and we find these rates to be extremely reasonable because it includes all components of basic hospitalization, the order noted. The judgment came in a plea moved over the pricing of medical treatment in private hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the petitioner's concern that though the number of active COVID-19 cases were climbing up every day, the admission facilities in hospitals is slopping downwards.. This puts citizens to unimaginable financial burden, contended the petitioner. During the hearing of the matter last week, the Court had made several suggestions for the State to consider, including the government taking over 50 percent of beds in private hospitals for a temporary period in view of the COVID-19 pandemic..When the matter was taken up on Monday, the State counsel informed the Court that the government has issued an order in this regard.As per the GO, the price for general ward would be Rs. 2,645, including registration, bed, nursing and boarding, blood transfusion, oxygen, Xray, consultation, diagnosis etc, the State counsel said.He added that expenses for costly medicines like Remdesivir will be separate while the rate for RT-PCR test would remain at Rs. 500 as fixed by the government earlier.The lawyer appearing for private hospitals, however, opposed the same. He gave details of the expenses incurred by hospitals stating that though they don't want to charge extreme prices during pandemic, they also have constraints..But the Bench said that it found the government stand appreciable.It also took strong exception to the charges being levied by certain hospitals."We found unconscionable billings, Rs 22,000 for PPE kits. Look at the bills. We saw our humble "Kanji" (rice porridge) is charged at Rs. 1300. Our Humble Kanji. Dolo is charged at Rs. 30-40," the Bench said."Imagine the plight of a citizen who earns 1000 and sees a bill of 2-3 lakh," the Court added, stating it will intervene.."You are looting people, our humble 'kanji' charged at Rs. 1,300:" Kerala High Court to private hospitals after State caps COVID treatment price.The Court besides ordering implementation of the GO also proceeded to issue the following directions:- Grievance redressal mechanisms to be implemented forthwith and State level Authority is also to be in place immediately;- Incident commanders appointed by the Government under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act) directed to check whether GO is being flouted by any hospital;- Every Private hospital will display rates of services (especially COVID-19 treatment) as per Sec 39 of the Clinical Establishment Act, 2018 and Rules;- State to consider having a toll-free number in place for citizens seeking COVID-19 treatment;- Government to consider adding on hospital beds from time to time. The State to also consider taking auditoriums, hotels, halls, hostels and such other for beds so that burden of a citizen to go to private hospital can be attenuated;- No private hospital can charge for drugs, oximeter more than the cost price at which it is procured. We direct Incident Commanders and DMOs to monitor this. Not one rupee of profit should be collected, said the Court- Merely because GO permits 5 PPE kits for ICU, it shall not be charged, unless it is on pro-rata basis, depending on number of patients..In its order, the Court further noted that health for all without financial burden is imperative during these times. "The pandemic is a wake-up call for the government as it carries the primary responsibility of upholding the health of the citizens, especially for the vulnerable sections of the society.".The Division Bench, placed reliance on a number of International covenants and Supreme Court judgments to hold that the following aspects are most essential amid these trying times. .a) Right to citizen non-discriminatory access to Health;b) Adequate treatment;c) Affordable Treatment. .An issue regarding ambulances was also raised before the Bench but the Court declined to pass any order on the same.“We will not interfere. You are expanding too much. Bring it to the notice of the government. It is doing well...It has come up with a fantastic order,” the Court said..As the hearing drew to a close, the Bench orally observed that a year back, there were hardly any patients in hospitals. Due to this, many hospitals were not in a position to pay their doctors, nurses and other medical staff. However, because of the pandemic now, most of the hospitals are having 100% occupancy. In this light, the Court urged all the hospitals to "average their cost." .Once the dictation of the order concluded, the Bench orally remarked, ."We pray that private hospitals join the citizens as a team (in fighting COVID-19). You can make your profits later, after 2-3 months. Please do not engage in profiteering now.".The case will be heard again after two weeks.