SC asks pvt hospitals if they can provide COVID-19 treatment on Ayushman Bharat scheme charges

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the private hospitals to tell if they could provide treatment of 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 sevices to the society 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 free of cost. 25% of beds are free, they said.

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 the court that we are already complying with this requirement. "Anyone who has received land on concessional rates is providing free beds and treatment," Salve 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 said under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, daily charges of Rs 4,000 were fixed but private hospitals were extorting Rs 50,000 from each patient.

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 no-profit basis.

On May 27, the top court had asked the Centre as to why the private hospitals, given land on concessional rates, treat COVID-19 patients for free.

In its response filed on Thursday (June 4), 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.