Covid-19 crisis: SC asks pvt hospitals if they can charge at Ayushman rates

Capping rates can make business unviable, say hospitals

As the debate around the cost of treatment for Covid-19 patients continues, the Supreme Court on Friday asked private hospitals if they were ready to provide treatment according to charges prescribed under the government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme.
 

The Bench, headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, observed that the SC was not asking all private hospitals to treat certain number of Covid-19 patients for free but was asking only those private hospitals, which have been given land at concessional rates by the government, to do so.
 

“I just want to know if hospitals are ready to charge at Ayushman rates,”