Rajasthan: Why Private Doctors, Hospitals Are Not Up For The 'Right To Health' Bill

The Right to Health bill passed by the Rajasthan Assembly on 21 March has been facing serious resistance from the state's private medical fratenity.

The bill gives every resident the right to free emergency treatment at public or designated private hospitals.

According to its provisions, every resident will have the right to emergency treatment and care "without prepayment" at any "public health institution, health care establishment and designated health care centres."

The bill casts a wide net for emergency cases, too — from road accidents to snake bites to fire incidents.

But for all the benefits the bill promises, the private doctors and hospitals in the state are not up for it. Even protests have been held against the bill.

A "health care establishment" is defined in the bill as the whole or any part of a public or private institution, facility, building, or place operated to provide health care.

This means that the bill covers private clinics and hospitals.

As a result, private doctors fear the rise of bureaucratic interference in the functioning of private hospitals, Ashutosh Mishra writes for India Today.

According to the bill, if a patient does not pay the charges after emergency care, stabilisation, and referral, the government will reimburse the health care provider.

Still, this matter is a cause of concern for private healthcare providers. They fear being asked to absorb the cost, although the state government has clarified that they will do so.

Gehlot has also denied the introduction of bureacratic intereference in private hospitals, another of their fears.

Further, questions have been raised over the impact of the bill on the quality of medical treatment delivered to the injured.

The Ashok Gehlot government's Right to Health bill is significant politically as it comes ahead of the assembly elections due to be held in Rajasthan later this year.

But for now, even some of the main players necessary for the populist bill's success are demanding its withdrawal.

Not just that, private hospitals are said to have vowed not to take part in any scheme of the state government going forward.

Health Minister Parsadi Lal has said the bill will not be withdrawn.