Private Hospital Room Cost Must Not Exceed 3 Star Hotel Room Tariff In Cities, Says Parliamentary Panel

 

 

New Delhi: Amid growing concerns over the rising cost of treatment for different diseases, including cancer, a Parliamentary Committee has recommended that the room charges for a hospital should not exceed the average room tariffs prevailing in three-star hotels in the peripheral area or vicinity of the hospital.

The panel proposed making this benchmark mandatory for all private hospitals in large metropolitan cities. The recommendations were made in the 176th Parliamentary Standing Committee report, 'Affordability and Accessibility of Healthcare Facilities in Public and Private Sector', which was presented in the Rajya Sabha and tabled in Lok Sabha on August 7.

 

The Committee in its report noted that the management of complex, multi-stage diseases like cancer requires highly individualised treatment plans, making total cost anticipation difficult for the average citizen.

Underlining that patients must be insulated from financial unpredictability and mid-treatment billing shocks, the panel suggested that the government institute a statutory mandate requiring all tertiary care hospitals to provide a comprehensive, legally binding upfront cost estimate to the patient prior to the initiation of any complex or prolonged medical intervention.

In addition to that, hospitals must be mandated to deploy dedicated 'Financial Navigators', specialised counsellors who guide patients and their families through these estimates, available philanthropic support, and health assurance limits, thereby enabling fully informed financial planning, it said.

The Committee in its report stated that some private hospitals levy or charge large amounts for hospital stays, especially in metropolitan cities.

 

Mentioning the break-up of the hospital billing structure, the panel said it believes rationalising of room charges needs to be done on an emergent basis.

"Hospital room charges are not uniform and vary across geographic regions and even among hospitals within the same area due to differences in infrastructure, service levels and operating costs. The room charges for a hospital should not exceed the average room tariffs prevailing in three-star hotels in the peripheral area or vicinity of the hospital. This benchmark should be mandatory for all private hospitals in large metropolitan cities," it said.

The panel categorically stated that the resident doctor cost, nursing cost, disposable costs of consumables, meal charges, and laundry charges can be added to the basic room tariff so that the entire cost is rationalised.

It said it firmly believes that the current ecosystem often limits financial capping to acute interventions or surgical procedures, leaving patients highly vulnerable to unregulated out-of-pocket expenses during extended follow-ups, rehabilitation, or end-of-life care.

 

The Committee stated that true affordability must encompass the entire lifecycle of disease management, and suggested the formulation and regulatory enforcement of 'Continuum of Care' packages.

These advanced packages must comprehensively bundle preventive screening, diagnostic, curative, and palliative services under a single, capped financial umbrella, ensuring that economically disadvantaged patients are not forced to abandon care during the critical palliative or supportive phases, it said.

The Committee also recommended the establishment of a highly regulated, centralised National/State Healthcare Corpus Fund.

 

"This fund must systematically aggregate CSR contributions, philanthropic donations, and charitable grants from across the corporate sector. These pooled resources must be strictly earmarked to subsidise or entirely fund advanced, high-cost therapeutics for eligible patients, thereby bypassing standard commercial pricing barriers without burdening the hospital's operational budget," it said.

The panel also recommended that structured psychological counselling, emotional support services, and patient support groups be formally integrated as mandatory, zero-cost components within all approved treatment protocols and capped financial packages for severe, chronic, and terminal diseases across both the public and private sectors.