Karnataka Health Minister U.T. Khader has directed every private hospital and nursing home in the state to prominently display treatment rates on their premises, citing the need to protect patients from unexpected medical expenses and improve transparency in healthcare billing.
Khader issued the direction after meeting representatives of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association in Bengaluru on Wednesday. He said displaying a rate list was mandatory under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act and called for treatment and medicine prices to be made clear to patients and their families.
“Every private hospital should mandatorily display the treatment rate list in a place clearly visible to the public,” Khader said, according to the report. He added that the government was committed to bringing transparency to treatment and medicine prices in private hospitals.
The minister also said hospitals should ensure transparency in the prices of medicines they purchase. Any benefit from lower procurement prices, he said, should reach patients directly. The direction places the question of hospital billing within the wider regulatory responsibility of the state, rather than leaving price information entirely to individual negotiations between hospitals and families.
Khader said many families admitted relatives for treatment and subsequently fell into debt. In some cases, he said, families had sold property to meet hospital bills. His remarks highlighted the financial exposure faced by households when the cost of treatment is not clear before or during admission.
Cancer medicines were a particular focus of the meeting. Khader said the state government had written to the Union government about the sharp rise in prices of cancer medicines. He also referred to concerns expressed by the Supreme Court over private hospitals charging high prices for medicines and exploiting patients.
According to the minister, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has approved a measure limiting the trade margin on cancer medicines that remain outside price control to 30% of the maximum retail price. He said the measure would substantially reduce the financial burden on cancer patients. The report did not provide details of the specific medicines covered or the implementation mechanism for the margin limit.
The state government is also examining whether medicines used in heart and kidney-related treatments are reaching patients at fair prices, Khader said. No timeline was provided for the completion of that review.
Private hospitals are a significant part of the healthcare delivery system used by urban residents, particularly when families require specialised or emergency care. In such cases, the visibility of treatment rates can affect a patient’s ability to compare costs, understand a bill and question charges. The direction, however, will depend on how hospitals display the rates, whether the lists cover medicines and procedures in sufficient detail, and how compliance is monitored under the state law.
Khader described private hospitals as an important part of Karnataka’s health system and said healthcare should not be treated only as a business. Dr Shobha Prakash, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, and other office-bearers attended the meeting. The minister’s directions did not specify a deadline for hospitals to install or update their publicly visible rate lists.
