Supreme Court (SC) asks Centre to fix Hospital Treatment Charges for entire country

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SC while hearing a writ petition of mandamus directed Union Government to fix hospital treatment charges to be paid by patients within next 6 weeks.
- Writ of Mandamus under Article 32 seeks to direct a public official or authority to perform a duty they are legally bound to perform.
Petitioners sought enforcement of Rule 9 of the Clinical Establishment (Central Government) Rules, 2012.
- Rule mandates that hospitals and clinical establishments display rates for services provided and charge fees within the range determined by the Centre in consultation with state governments.

Need to fix charges
- Affordability: Healthcare costs can be prohibitively expensive, particularly when significant proportion of population does not have health insurance coverage.
- Transparency: Fixed charges can bring transparency to healthcare pricing to prevent instances of overcharging, billing discrepancies, and exploitation of patients.
- Standardization and fair competition: Create a fairer playing field among hospitals, with competition focusing on quality of care.
- Responsibility of the State: Article 47 directs the State to improve Public health.

Challenges in fixing treatment charges: Cost variability depending location, quality of facilities, etc.; fixed charges may discourage hospitals from investing in new technologies, may result in artificial market distortion, administrative burden to ensure compliance, etc.

Ayushman Bharat scheme: Health and Wellness Centres and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
National List of Essential Medicines: To monitor prices of essential medicines.
PM Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana: To provide generic medicines at affordable prices.

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