Karnataka Health Minister U.T. Khader has directed every private hospital in the state to prominently display treatment rates on its premises, in a move aimed at improving transparency in hospital billing and reducing unexpected financial pressure on patients and their families.
Khader issued the direction during a meeting with the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association on Wednesday. He said displaying a rate list was mandatory under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act and asked hospitals to ensure that the information was clearly visible to the public.
The minister said the government was committed to bringing greater transparency to treatment and medicine prices in private hospitals. He also called for transparency in the prices of medicines purchased by hospitals, adding that the benefit of lower procurement costs should reach patients directly.
Khader said many families admitted relatives for treatment had fallen into debt, with some reportedly selling property to meet hospital bills. He said unnecessary expenditure in the name of treatment was placing a heavy financial burden on poor and middle-class households.
Cancer medicines were a particular concern, according to the minister. He said prices had risen sharply and that patients were being charged large amounts. The Karnataka government had written to the Centre on the issue, he said, while the Supreme Court had also expressed concern about the alleged overcharging of patients for medicines in private hospitals.
Khader further said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority had approved a measure to cap the trade margin on cancer medicines that were outside price control at 30% of the maximum retail price. He said the measure would significantly reduce the financial burden on cancer patients.
The minister added that the government was examining whether medicines used in heart and kidney-related treatments were reaching patients at fair prices. No additional implementation timeline or enforcement mechanism for the hospital rate-list direction was specified in the report.
Private hospitals are a significant part of Karnataka’s healthcare system, Khader said, and called for cooperation between the government and private hospitals to provide quality treatment at fair prices. He said healthcare should not be treated only as a business and that illness should not push any family into financial ruin.
Dr Shobha Prakash, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, and other office-bearers attended the meeting. The state government’s next steps include continued examination of medicine pricing in heart and kidney-related treatments, alongside the direction on displaying treatment rates.
