SC seeks Centre's views on plea for capping treatment of Covid-19 patients

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Central Government on a plea seeking an upper limit on fees charged by private hospitals for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. According to the PIL filed by Avishek Goenka, Centre has fixed an upper limit of cost for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice MR Shah and Justice V Ramasubramanian has sought a response from the Central government over a Public Interest Litigation seeking a price cap on fees charged by private hospitals for corona treatment.
The petitioner, Avishek Goenka, contended before the court that the private hospitals have been charging exorbitant fees, making treatment inaccessible for most of the people.The plea also sought time bound settlement of mediclaim by insurance companies and cashless treatment facilities should be extended to insured patients.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been directed to get instructions from the government over this issue within a week and the matter will be heard again thereafter.

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Similar plea is scheduled to be heard by the CJI SA Bobde led bench next week where it had sought response from the centre asking if the hospitals built on free land are providing free treatment to Covid-19 patients. However, Centre in its affidavit claimed that government cannot issue such directions to private hospitals.