Maharashtra's New Health Bill Under Fire: Why Patient Advocates Say It Falls Short on Affordability

It seems Maharashtra's latest legislative effort to streamline healthcare, the Maharashtra Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, isn't quite hitting the mark for everyone. In fact, a powerful coalition of health professionals and NGOs, the Jan Arogya Abhiyan (JAA), is openly challenging the Bill, pointing out a rather glaring omission: it completely sidesteps the crucial issue of regulating treatment rates in private hospitals. You see, on a recent Friday, September 5, 2026, JAA actually kicked off a statewide campaign, encouraging citizens to send their objections directly to the Joint Legislative Committee (JLC), a body of 21 MLAs currently reviewing all feedback on this proposed law.

What exactly is JAA asking for? Well, their demands are quite comprehensive and, frankly, vital for patient protection. They're pushing hard for the Bill to mandate fixed treatment charges across the board – we're talking about common procedures, different categories of beds, diagnostic tests, those often-costly ICU services, and even doctor consultations. But it doesn't stop there. They also want clear penalties for hospitals that dare to flout these rates, a proper refund system, and, crucially, a rule that hospitals must provide an estimated bill upfront, with a strict cap – maybe 5-10% – on how much that final cost can exceed the estimate. And here's a big one: an absolute ban on hospitals holding patients, or even deceased bodies, hostage over unpaid bills. They envision an easily accessible grievance-redressal system, an independent regulatory authority, and a State Council that actually includes stakeholders from the community.

So, where did this Bill come from? The CEB, as it's known, was introduced in the state Assembly on July 3, effectively stepping in to replace the venerable, albeit outdated, 77-year-old Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act of 1949. On paper, it sounds good, right? It champions compulsory registration for all hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic centers, advocates for transparency in treatment prices – a noble goal, indeed – and even stipulates that no deposit should be demanded for emergency cases. These are certainly steps in the right direction, aiming for better oversight in our healthcare system.

But here's where the rubber meets the road, and the real-world impact becomes starkly clear. Abhay Shukla, a public health expert and key JAA representative, highlighted some truly sobering statistics. After delving into hospital data from five major private hospitals scattered across Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, his team found that the average daily treatment charges are mind-bogglingly high, ranging from a staggering ₹24,000 to an eye-watering ₹62,000. And if you look at the latest NSS 80th Round data for Maharashtra, it paints an even more worrying picture: a whopping 77% of all hospitalizations happen in private facilities, with patients footing an average out-of-pocket bill of ₹40,500. Can you imagine? Rural hospitalization costs have shot up by an astonishing 87%, and it's estimated that a staggering 40 lakh people in Maharashtra are being cruelly pushed into poverty each year, simply because they get sick.

Given these alarming figures and the very real human cost, JAA isn't backing down. They've made a passionate plea to the JLC to genuinely strengthen this Bill, ensuring it truly serves the public interest. Interestingly, they even reference a forgotten-but-still-relevant provision, Section 11-Q of the Maharashtra Nursing Home Registration Act Rules, 2021, which, believe it or not, explicitly states that treatment rates should not exceed government-determined rates. It's almost as if the blueprint for fairer pricing was there all along, just waiting to be properly implemented.