In view of the increasing overpricing of tertiary healthcare services by private super specialty hospitals in the state, the Punjab Government should immediately fix treatment rates on the lines of regulatory committees constituted to control private school fees in all districts. Disclosing this here, former Health Minister Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu said that most major private hospitals are being run by businessmen who set targets for doctors and also provide them a share.
However, no regulatory body has been set up to monitor such inhuman practices in super specialty hospitals. Terming the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna of the Punjab Government as a flop scheme, Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu said that PGIMER Chandigarh is not providing treatment services to beneficiaries enrolled under this scheme.
PGIMER is the first preference of Punjabis due to the availability of all super specialty doctors at one place. However, when government hospitals refer critical patients there for treatment, they return empty-handed as the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna has not been recognised by PGIMER management. On the other hand, beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat Sehat Bima Yojna are receiving all services there.
Pointing out the declining condition of the government health sector, Mr. Sidhu said that the AAP party had announced in its manifesto that it would set up one medical college in each district of the state, but it has failed even to upgrade the existing government hospitals. Now, it is the need of the hour to fix the rates of all treatment services, including tertiary healthcare services, in private super specialty hospitals.
Highlighting the alarming situation in the state, Mr. Sidhu said that Punjab has become the capital of diabetes and hypertension, while chronic kidney failure and cancer cases are also rapidly increasing. However, the state government has not taken any steps in this regard. Even the Punjab government does not have any action plan or updated disease classification.
“How can they control the declining condition of the state’s health sector if they have no concern about the major health issues of Punjabis?” he added. Recalling the action taken by the previous Congress government when he was the Health Minister, Mr. Sidhu said that during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Punjab Government had fixed treatment rates in private hospitals and medical colleges, capping them at a maximum of Rs 18,000 per day.
The rates, finalised by the Dr. KK Talwar Committee, covered isolation beds, ICU treatment and hospitalisation charges per day. Mr. Sidhu said that similarly, it is the demand of all Punjabis that a high-powered committee be constituted to take an immediate decision on fixing the rates of all treatment services in private super specialty hospitals.
He also urged the Punjab Government to take suitable steps to ensure free treatment services at PGIMER Chandigarh under the Sehat Yojna.