Maharashtra to inspect private hospitals over alleged NICU overcharging: Prakash Abitkar
Pune- In a bid to curb the alleged overcharging of patients, particularly in neonatal care, Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar informed the State Assembly on Thursday that the Health Department would conduct surprise inspections of private hospitals across the state.
“Private hospitals are required to display treatment charges prominently. Our surprise checks will verify if patients are being billed according to these displayed rates,” the minister said.
The inspection drive will be launched initially in Pune district, where the Civil Surgeon and the Deputy Director of Health have been tasked with leading the inspection teams.
According to the TOI news report, the government's announcement came after NCP (SP) MLA Bapu Pathare (Vadgaon Sheri) highlighted the plight of the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Pathare pointed out that while instances of premature births are on the rise, there is a severe shortage of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds in government facilities.
In Pune district, there are only 114 NICU beds across all government hospitals. Consequently, due to this shortage, families are forced to turn to private hospitals, where NICU bills can reach up to ₹35 lakh, the MLA informed.
Furthermore, participating in the discussion, BJP MLA Namita Mundada demanded that the state government impose price caps on NICU treatment in the private sector. She further suggested that the government conduct mandatory clinical and billing audits to ensure that hospitals do not exploit patients.
In response, Abitkar assured the House that a committee had already been constituted to explore ways to strengthen NICU infrastructure in state-run hospitals.
“We will take further decisions on capacity building and regulation based on the committee’s upcoming report,” he said.
Abitkar emphasised that transparency is mandatory for all private healthcare providers.
