Mumbai: Four days after a directive from the Union health ministry, Maharashtra govt on Friday made it mandatory for private hospitals and medical establishments to display the rates of their medical services and facilities.
The provisions on displaying rates and making bills transparent were already included in the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act (MNHRA) rules of 2021. Therefore, rates for a complete episode of care should be defined.
A govt resolution (GR) said the rates should be displayed prominently in both Marathi and English. 2021, must be prominently displayed in a manner visible to everyone visiting the hospital” — it also states that the display chart must be updated after every revision in rates While the GR begins with the main rule — “The rates of medical services and available facilities specified under Schedule III of the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Rules. Dr Abhay Shukla of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan said, “This is a positive, though long-overdue, step. “Ideally, these rules should have been implemented much earlier,” he said. One administrator said discussions on such display boards had been held with the state a few years ago. We cannot put up all the points on a display board,” said a hospital CEO. There should be a mechanism to curb excessive margins,” said Dr Shukla. Dr Shukla said, “Implementation of existing rules, as well as new provisions through the upcoming Act, is necessary to bring down hospital charges and protect patients.”
The Union ministry’s directive noted that conspicuous display of rates would help patients and their families understand the likely cost of treatment and make informed healthcare decisions. Healthcare activists, however, have been demanding such measures for years, arguing that they could help curb overcharging and billing disputes. The public health department, which issued the GR, has asked district civil surgeons and district and municipal health officers to communicate the details to all private medical establishments. They have also been asked to take administrative action against establishments that fail to comply with the rules. Hospitals treating foreign patients are also required to display the special package rates applicable to them. We have been demanding transparency in hospital rates for the past four years. “There are hundreds of subheads in a hospital bill. In previous discussions, it had been decided that a few main subheads would be listed for general-category beds, he added. However, health activists believe that the unbundling of hospital charges is a major concern. “Patients are often charged separately for beds, doctors’ fees, medicines, consumables, housekeeping and other services, making the final bill much higher than expected.
When contacted on Friday evening, several hospital administrators said they had not yet received the notification.