JOIN USCoronavirus: Can private hospitals treat COVID-19 patients as per charges fixed under Ayushman Bharat scheme? Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the private hospitals if they could provide treatment to COVID-19 patients on charges fixed under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde, A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy said the private hospitals should be ready to extend their services in the pandemic.
Private hospitals association told Court that the health facilities, built on public land, have already been providing treatment to a certain number of patients for free of cost.
The Union government, for its part, said it has got no statutory power to direct private and charitable hospitals to provide free treatment to COVID-19 patients.
Senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, representing the private hospitals' groups, submitted before a bench presided over by Chief Justice S A Bobde that we are already complying with this requirement. "Anyone who has received land on concessional rates is providing free beds and treatment," Salve said.
On this, the bench said that there was an earlier judgment which stated that these hospitals should treat a certain number of patients for free.
"We are only talking about charitable hospitals. Please ensure they do some service," the bench said.
The court posted a PIL by Sachin Jain in this regard for consideration after two weeks.
Jain wanted directions to the Centre to regulate the cost of COVID-19 treatment at private and corporate hospitals, which were exploiting the situation by charging Rs 10 to 12 lakh from one patient in the national calamity.
He submitted the private hospitals running on public land or the land allotted at a concessional rate must treat COVID-19 patients pro bono or on a no-profit basis.
On May 27, the top court had asked the Centre as to why the private hospitals, given land on concessional rates, not treat COVID-19 patients for free.
In its response filed on Thursday, the Union government's Health Ministry, however, said that there was no provision under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation), Act, 2010, whereby it is mandated to private hospitals running on public land shall treat COVID-19 patients on free basis. It, however, reiterated such policy may only be defined and implemented by respective state governments.