SC seeks govt's reply on plea to cap Covid treatment cost in pvt hospitals

There should be a time-bound settlement of mediclaim by insurance companies and cashless treatment facilities be extended to all insured patients, the plea says

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an upper limit on fees that can be charged by private hospitals across the country for treatment of coronavirus patients.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked the Central government to file its response on the PIL, filed by a person called Avishek Goenka, within a week.

The apex court asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the PIL to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure that the law officer can take proper instructions from the government on the matter, and fixed it for further hearing after one week.

The petitioner, Avishek Goenka, had approached the top court seeking directions to appropriate authorities for an upper limit on fees that can be charged by private hospitals for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

The plea has also sought to increase the number of private quarantine facilities and hospitals with an option to the infected people for availing such facilities on payment basis and said that currently such an option is not given to patients. It also said that the government be asked to fix indicative rates of treatment for similar standards of such facilities.

There should be a time-bound settlement of mediclaim by insurance companies and cashless treatment facilities be extended to all insured patients, the plea said.