HC quashes Govt circular capping rates of non-Covid treatment at private hospitals
   Date :24-Oct-2020

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Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court, on Friday, quashed a part of two notifications issued by the State Government and identical circulars issued by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) that capped the rates of non-Covid treatment in private hospitals.
 
The High Court found no good rationale or legal power to cap prices in 20 per cent isolation and non-isolation beds in private hospitals/healthcare providers and nursing homes kept for non-Covid patients and for which many hospitals were either penalised or prosecuted. The High Court found no legislative competence in State Government to issue such notifications and also held it to be violative of fundamental rights of medical practitioners and hospital owners.
A division bench consisting of Justice Ravi Deshpande and Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, while pronouncing the ruling on Friday morning, virtually rejected all justifications put forth by the State Government to justify its effort
to put cap on or regulating the rates chargeable by private hospitals for non-Covid patients and quashed a portion of April 30 and May 21 notifications related to non-Covid patients in private hospitals. Similar order issued by Nagpur Municipal Commissioner on June 4, too, has been set aside.
 
The High Court noted that neither Section 2 of the Epidemic Act nor Section 65 of Disaster Management Act, which empowers Government to take special measures and to effectively manage the patients suffering from epidemic disease, created any statutory obligation upon the State Government to treat the non-Covid patients or to take special measures to curb hospital treatment rates.
 
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had strongly defended the decision to prescribe maximum rates that could be charged by private hospitals claiming that this was done to ensure affordable healthcare for common citizens even at private hospitals. Since the majority of Government healthcare facilities where non-Covid treatments were available for free or at very affordable rates were converted into dedicated COVID-19 health facilities, the rates were capped for non-Covid patients so that they got proper treatment, the Advocate General had claimed while asserting that the State had legislative competence.
 
The High Court, on September 25, had stayed the decision of the State Government dated May 21 to cap rates for non-Covid patients admitted in private hospitals. As per this notification, rates for both COVID-19 and non-Covid treatment to patients at any of the hospitals, nursing homes or clinics across Maharashtra, were fixed and the establishments were barred from charging more than these rates. While patients complained of exorbitant bills charged by hospitals, the medical fraternity claimed that they were being vilified without understanding the ground realities.
According to petitioner-Hospital Association, the legality of this notification and notices issued by NMC and District Administration to hospitals for alleged over-charging from COVID-19 and non-Covid patients, was highly questionable and this exercise was gross abuse of power. The restrictions put upon the charges for the medical services sought to be recovered from the patients by the private hospitals, were impractical, illogical and not covered by entries in the list, petitioner Dr Pradeep Arora had claimed while countering the Advocate General. Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Subodh Dharmadhikari and Adv Deven Chavan, petitioner-in-person Dr Pradeep Arora, Additional GP Anand Deshpande and Adv J B Kasat (NMC), Adv Shreerang Bhandarkar (intervener), Adv Anand Parchure (medical consultants) appeared in the matter.