New Dellhi: A day after the Centre affirmed in an affidavit that it has no statutory powers to force private and charitable hospitals to give free treatment to COVID-19 patients, the Supreme Court on Friday put it on a week's notice to cap the fee in these hospitals. The petitioner Avishek Goenka, a resident of Kolkata, told the court that private hospitals are charging hefty amounts from COVID-19 patients and this has rendered them inaccessible for most. His contention was that a patient who can afford private healthcare should have the option to pay for it but not at exorbitant rates which made it inaccessible for most patients.
He wanted the government to fix indicative rates of treatments. He also raised a question of law -- whether a person who is willing and has the means to afford quality healthcare could be forced to go to a government owned or aided quarantine centre or hospital, against his choice, denying him quality life in the name of the pandemic. Surprisingly, the same case for regulating the cost of treatment also figured before another Bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde on a separate petition by advocate Sachin Jain.
The Bench had earlier on May 27 asked the Centre to identify private hospitals where the COVID-19 patients could get treatment for free or at a nominal rate. The bench asked the private hospitals if they were willing to provide treatment to COVID-19 infected patients at the charges prescribed under the government's Ayushman Bharat scheme which provides a health cover to the poor and the vulnerable. It fixed the next hearing after two weeks. The CJI said the court was asking only those hospitals which had got land at concessional rates from the government. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Health Care Federation, which entered in the matter as an intervener, said hospitals which have received land on concessional rates are already complying with the requirements. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for an association of hospitals, which has also sought to intervene in the matter, said they are already complying with all the directions.
Salve told the bench that Ayushman Bharat is a heavily discounted scheme and revenue of private hospitals has already gone down by around 60 per cent, as footfall has decreased on account of COVID19. Rohatgi argued that no hospital is making any profit during this period. "That is all right. You are making a sacrifice for a good cause," the bench observed. "The Union of India should stand with the citizens and not with corporate hospitals," petitioner Sachin Jain said, pointing out that the rates prescribed under the Ayushmann Bharat scheme should be made applicable to the hospitals.
