A.P. urged to reform hospital billing practices

The Praja Arogya Vedika (PAV) has urged the Andhra Pradesh government to issue immediate orders mandating transparent, itemised billing for medicines, medical devices, surgical items, and consumables across all government and private hospitals in the State.In a representation addressed to Minister for Health, Medical & Family Welfare Satya Kumar Yadav, PAV president Dr. M.V. Ramanaiah and general secretary T. Kameshwar Rao highlighted that soaring healthcare expenditures impose a severe financial burden on families, particularly those undergoing prolonged treatment, surgeries, or cancer care.The forum pointed out that patients are frequently left in the dark due to a lack of transparency regarding procurement costs, maximum retail prices (MRPs), and final charges billed through hospital-designated pharmacies. Citing recent initiatives in other States, PAV noted that Maharashtra recently mandated prominent displays of medical service rates following Union Health Ministry directives, while Karnataka directed hospital pharmacies to display landing prices and MRPs on bills.The PAV has put forward a 10-point charter of demands, requesting the government to mandate itemised bills that separately detail product names, generic or brand names, quantities, unit prices, landing base procurement prices, printed MRPs, and actual patient charges. The forum also urged extending transparency rules to cover essential consumables such as syringes, IV cannulas, normal saline, surgical dressings, and implants, while ensuring compliance across all private hospitals, nursing homes, and corporate medical establishments.Furthermore, PAV called for establishing robust monitoring, inspection, and accessible grievance-redressal mechanisms to investigate complaints regarding excessive markups.The organisation urged State authorities to collaborate with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to scrutinise unjustified price disparities and strengthen the enforcement of existing clinical establishment regulations in Andhra Pradesh. Published - October 18, 2026 07:01 pm IST