Karnataka Health Minister U.T. Khader has directed every private hospital in the state to display treatment rates prominently within its premises, saying the measure is mandatory under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act and is intended to improve transparency for patients.
Khader issued the direction at a meeting with representatives of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association on Wednesday. He said patients and their families should be able to clearly see the charges for treatments and services before or during hospitalisation.
“Every private hospital must compulsorily display the treatment rate list in a place clearly visible to the public within its premises,” Khader said, according to Prajavani. He added that the government was committed to bringing transparency to treatment and medicine prices in private hospitals.
The minister also called for greater transparency in the prices of medicines purchased by hospitals. He said any benefit from lower procurement prices should be passed directly to patients, amid concerns that treatment-related expenses are placing a heavy financial burden on households.
Khader said many families who admitted parents or other relatives for treatment had been pushed into debt. Some, he said, had even sold property to pay hospital bills. The statement links the rate-display direction to a wider concern over how unclear or excessive charges can affect low- and middle-income households during medical emergencies.
Cancer medicines were also discussed at the meeting. Khader said prices of medicines used in cancer treatment had risen sharply and that patients were being charged large sums. He said the Karnataka government had written to the Union government over the issue.
According to the minister, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has approved a measure to limit the trade margin on cancer medicines outside price control to 30% of the maximum retail price. He said the measure would significantly reduce the financial burden on cancer patients. The report did not provide details of the specific medicines covered or the date on which the margin limit would take effect.
The state government is also examining whether medicines used in heart and kidney-related treatments are reaching patients at fair prices, Khader said. No timeline or detailed enforcement mechanism for this review was announced in the report.
The minister described private hospitals as an important part of Karnataka’s healthcare system and said healthcare should not be treated only as a business. He called for the government and private hospitals to work together to ensure that patients receive quality treatment at fair prices.
The Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association president Dr Shobha Prakash and other office-bearers attended the meeting. The minister’s direction now places the visibility of treatment rate lists, medicine-price transparency and the implementation of the cited legal requirement at the centre of the state’s engagement with private healthcare providers.
