The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Central government how it could fix uniform rates in private hospitals for patient care when such matters should ideally be driven by market forces.A Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta posed the question while issuing notice to the government on a petition challenging the government regulations on uniform rates for ophthalmological procedures across India."How can there be uniform rates even in private hospitals? It all depends on market forces. What if there was uniform fees for lawyers appearing here?” asked the Court. Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, representing one of the parties, earlier said the rules were “completely out of hand”.Attorney General for India R Venkataramani appeared for the Central government. Senior Advocate Maninder Singh represented the Indian Medical Association. Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for a group of private hospitals.Pertinently, a co-ordinate Bench hearing the same matter earlier this month had lamented how private hospitals set up on lands purchased at subsidised rates were reneging on their commitment to reserve some of their beds for the poor."All these private hospitals they say, when getting subsidised land, that they will reserve at least 25 per cent beds for Economically Weaker Sections but it never happens. We have seen it many times,” a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Prasanna B Varale had remarked.As per the petition filed by the All India Ophthalmological Society, the rates for procedures conducted by specialists could not be the same in metropolitan cities and small remote villages.The top court had earlier issued only a limited notice to the Attorney General in the matter and listed it for further consideration on April 17. “But can you challenge a policy like this? You see, for example health care rates in northeast are very affordable and it will get affected," Justice Dhulia had then remarked.Today, the matter was tagged with an already pending case seeking directions to the Union government to notify hospital treatment rates in line with rules under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.
TAGS: Supreme Court Central government uniform rates private hospitals patient care market forces regulations ophthalmological procedures
