New law to curb hosp bill inflation, make treatment cost display must
Times of India | 17 June 2025
Kolkata: The state govt on Monday moved a bill in the assembly mandating that private hospitals and nursing homes should not inflate their fixed treatment rates, including packages, with hidden charges. The bill also states that for treatment costs not covered under fixed rates, including packages, patients' families must be clearly informed of the possible costs, and any increase must be communicated within 24 hours. The bill will be debated in the assembly on Tuesday. The bill mandates that rates must be properly displayed so that they are "visible" to all in the private hospitals, and also on the hospital websites.The West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) (Amendment) Bill 2025 was moved by finance minister, also the junior health minister, Chandrima Bhattacharya in the state assembly. It states, "Every clinical establishment shall strictly follow the fixed rates and charges, including the package rates, for investigation, bed charges, operation theatre procedures." The bill also clearly mandates that private hospitals shall ensure that "intensive care, ventilation, implants, consultation and similar tests and procedures, and any additional treatment or procedure shall not attract additional charges over and above such fixed rates and charges, including packages". It goes a step further and states that proper estimates of all normal treatment charges, which do not fall within the ambit of fixed charges and packages, must be provided to the patients' families before treatment commences, and the final costs should not exceed a percentage decided by the Bengal govt. Any subsequent increase, the bill states, must be informed within 24 hours, including the subject-wise breakdown.The bill also proposes to make e-prescriptions mandatory and asks private hospitals to maintain long-term electronic medical records of patients, including treatment details, discharge summaries, and prescriptions. It also states that an officer not below the assistant director of health services will now be a registering authority for private hospitals and nursing homes. However, it also puts a 90-day cap on the regulating authority to dispose of applications for fresh licences or renewals, specifying the reasons for acceptance or rejection. The bill states that on the penal provisions, IPC will be replaced with BNS and CrPC will be replaced with BNSS.Rupak Barua, president of the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India and CEO of Woodlands Multispecialty Hospital, said, "The bill is a right move to bring about transparency and clarity in hospital bills. We are ready to display the charges, for it will help patients' families get a clear idea about the possible expenses. But it must be remembered that treatment is a dynamic process and depends on the physical condition of the patient. It could change from time to time, necessitating additional measures, procedures, medicines, and may even force hospitals to shift a patient from a normal ward to the ICU. This could lead to a significant change in the charges and result in a bill which is higher than what the patients' families anticipated. This has been happening frequently in the case of patients admitted under packages. So, the process has to be flexible and take these factors into account. But we are ready to make a start, and charges should be displayed."