Parl panel seeks 3-star hotel tariff cap on pvt hospital rooms

New Delhi: Private hospital room charges in metropolitan cities should not exceed the average tariff of a nearby three-star hotel, a parliamentary committee has recommended as part of measures to make healthcare more affordable. The recommendation is part of the 176th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare on “Affordability and Accessibility of Healthcare Facilities in Public and Private Sector”. The report was presented in the Rajya Sabha and tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 7.

The committee recommended making the three-star hotel tariff benchmark mandatory for private hospitals in large metropolitan cities. Resident doctor, nursing, disposable consumable, meal and laundry costs could be added to the basic room tariff, it said.

It also called for tertiary care hospitals to provide patients with a comprehensive and legally binding upfront estimate before beginning complex or prolonged medical treatment. Hospitals should deploy dedicated financial navigators to help patients and families understand treatment costs, available financial assistance and health insurance limits, the panel said. The committee noted that households continue to face significant financial stress while accessing private healthcare, with average out-of-pocket expenditure per hospitalisation episode at Rs34,064. It also flagged medical inflation of 10-13 per cent and differential billing based on room categories.