Private Hospitals on Subsidized land will treat poor for free, or face Shutdown: Supreme Court

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that many hospitals including Max Super Specialty Hospital (Saket), Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Shanti Mukand Hospital, Dharamshila Cancer Hospital, Moolchand Hospital— were provided lands at concessional rates between 1960 and 1990 on the condition that they will treat the poor free of cost.

Providing treatment to the poor was one of the clauses in the lease deed due to which land was given to hospitals at a very cheap price. It is hence mandatory for private hospitals, built on land allocated by the government on concessional rates, to provide 10 percent treatment to In-Patient Department (IPD) and 25 percent to Out Patient Department (OPD) for free.

The Delhi high court had earlier ruled against private hospitals, acting on a public interest litigation filed by Social Jurist, a not for-profit organisation. The court stated that hospitals had to pay fines for earning profits on beds that had to be reserved for the poor.

Read Also: 5 Delhi Hospitals Fined Rs 600 Crore For Refusing Free Treatment To Poor

 In 2016, Delhi government asked five private hospitals in the city, including Fortis Escorts Heart Institute and Max Super Specialty Hospital (Saket), to deposit “unwarranted profits” of over 

Rs. 600 crore for refusing free treatment to the poor, the prime condition for land allotment lease. The hospitals approached the High Court and received a stay in the matter

Following this, the government appealed to SC.  The main argument put forward by the hospitals stated that treatments are too costly to be provided free, especially drugs, lab tests and surgical procedures. They had instead offered to provide consultancy services free of charge reports Economic times.