Health Ministry Asks States and UTs to Ensure Visible Display of Treatment Charges at Clinical Establishments

Key facts

• The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has urged all States and Union Territories to ensure prominent display of rates charged for services and facilities offered by Clinical Establishments.
• Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava wrote to the Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs, calling for a review of compliance with applicable regulatory provisions and clear, accessible display of healthcare service charges.
• The letter cites the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 and the Clinical Establishments (Central Government) Rules, 2012, under which establishments must display rates for each type of service and available facilities at a conspicuous place in the local language and English.
• The directive comes amid concerns over steep mark-ups on medicines at hospital pharmacies, with state drug regulators flagging differences of nearly 1,000 per cent between price to retailer and MRP, and a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta scrutinising high mark-ups on essential medicines including cancer drugs.
• States and UTs have also been asked to encourage prominent display of package rates offered to foreign patients travelling to India on Medical or Ayush visas to strengthen India's position as a destination for medical and Ayush care.