India calls for transparent hospital billing on World Health Day

Hyderabad: Even as the world was commemorating the World Health Day on Saturday, India found itself embroiled in a pressing debate over the transparency of hospital billing.

A recent survey covering about 23,000 respondents from 305 districts, conducted by LocalCircles. has shed light on the practice of inadequate billing.

Only 47 per cent reported receiving itemised bills, while 43 per cent of respondents said their bills only contained generic descriptions. Another 10 per cent of respondents said they received bills that merely mentioned 'package charges.'

One case that epitomised the gravity of the issue involved the parents of a young girl who succumbed to dengue in 2022. Their ordeal was worsened by the discovery of erroneous charges on their hospital bill, including billing for an extra day.

Seventy-four per cent of survey participants called upon the government to establish a mandatory standard for hospital billing. The proposed standard, to be overseen by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), would mandate itemised listing of all products, consumables, services and facilities, along with their costs.

Despite overwhelming support for government intervention, 17 per cent of respondents sought autonomy for hospitals in bill presentation, while nine per cent remained undecided.