In Keralam, ‘affordable’ private health care is easier said than done

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The Keralam government’s announcement that it will make private health care more “affordable” through consultations with the private health sector, and that a Bill in this regard was in the offing, should be seen against the State’s seven-year legal battle before the Kerala High Court upheld the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulations) Act 2018, throwing out all objections raised by private hospitals.

The KCE Act was the first ever attempt made in the State to bring the entire health sector, public and private, under a regulatory framework.

But the Act was systematically opposed and its implementation stalled at every turn by the private health sector in the State.

It was in November last year that the Kerala High Court threw out all objections raised by the Kerala Private Hospitals’ Association (KPHA) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and upheld the validity of the Act.

Contentious area

Unlike the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 (Central Act 23 of 2010), which attempted to cap the treatment/procedure/diagnostic rates charged by the private health sector by fixing a price range, the KCE Act had not touched this contentious area at all.

The KCE Act just insisted on mandatory registration of all clinical establishments under all systems of medicines (including hospitals, clinics and laboratories) and that every establishment maintain certain minimum standards based on the category in which they fall. It also said that hospitals display their rates for various procedures openly so that there is transparency.