Thiruvananthapuram, October 26: The Kerala government will introduce a Bill in the next Assembly session to regulate the high cost of treatment in private hospitals, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan told the Assembly on Monday.

The minister was responding to a question by Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA K. N. Balagopal about steps to regulate the trend of some big hospitals having large stakes held by global private equity firms, which is driving up the cost of treatment. Muraleedharan said the government agrees in principle to the need to regulate private hospitals, many of which are now under the management of foreign companies.

He said treatment costs and room rents have gone up drastically, and insurance companies sometimes reject claims, causing hardship to common people. The proposed legislation will not be introduced in the ongoing session, but in the next session.

A four-member committee headed by the Health Department Principal Secretary has been tasked with preparing recommendations for the proposed legislation. Its other members are the Director of Health Services, the Director of Medical Education and the Managing Director of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited. The committee will examine treatment charges across private hospitals, including the prices of medicines, diagnostic investigations, medical procedures and hospital accommodation.

Answering another question, the minister said the government is also preparing a project to make Kerala a medical destination for foreigners and people from other states, and a campaign for early detection and control of lifestyle diseases, with a pilot to be implemented first in the Vattiyurkavu, Idukki and Nilambur Assembly constituencies.