Time of Death to Decide Amount of Bill in Delhi Private Hospitals: AAP Government

New Delhi, May 29: As per the proposed draft policy of Delhi state government, the time of death of a patient will determine the quantum of bill imposed on his kin.

The draft policy, which will be open for public consultation, recommends waiving the bill by upto 50 per cent if the patient dies within six hours of being admitted. The bill should be reduced by upto 20 per cent, if the patient dies within 24 hours, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has suggested.

State Health Minister Satyendra Jain said the changes are being proposed on humanitarian grounds. He further claimed that the medical facilities would suffer no loss, as only 50 per cent of the bill levied by them is based upon the charge of consumables and medicines.

"There have been a lot of complaints of overcharging and malpractices in private hospitals. This policy will help increase transparency," Jain said.

The draft policy also recommends the private hospitals to  prescribe drugs from the 376 medicines on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) -- the prices of which are being fixed by the Union government.

The policy, if enacted as a law by the AAP government, would amend the Nursing Homes Registration Rules, which govern all private hospitals and nursing homes in the national capital region.

The legislation would need the approval of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal after it gets cleared by the state cabinet, said Dr Kirti Bhushan, Delhi director general of health services.

A recent study by Haryana government authorised panel, which was also probing the alleged exorbitant price levied by Gurgaon's Fortis hospital on the family of a seven-year-old dengue victim, found the range of profit margin set aside by private hospitals is as high as 1737 per cent.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 29, 2018 10:04 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).