The Union Health Ministry has directed state and Union Territory administrations to display notices listing the fees and charges attached to clinical establishment services prominently at those facilities, framing the move as part of a broader push toward transparency, accountability, and patient-centred care.
A letter from Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava to chief secretaries across states and union territories has urged a review of whether existing regulatory requirements are being met, along with steps to make fee-related information at healthcare facilities readily visible and understandable to patients and those accompanying them.
Displaying treatment costs where patients can readily find them, the health secretary contended, would leave people and their families better equipped to compare care options, gauge potential out-of-pocket expenses, and make more informed decisions about medical spending. Open disclosure of costs and procedures would reduce preventable misunderstandings around invoicing, while laying a stronger foundation of public confidence in how healthcare is delivered.
Cited within the letter are two pieces of legislation — the Clinical Establishments Act of 2010 and the accompanying Rules issued in 2012 — which together set out the governing structure for how clinical establishments are overseen and regulated. Where the Act is in force across states and union territories, every clinical establishment is required to post a clear notice — visible to patients and those accompanying them — listing the fees attached to each service offered along with details of available facilities, displayed in both English and the relevant local language.
Where the Act carries no force, individual states and union territories fall back on their own regulatory frameworks for clinical establishments, and many of those local regimes include rules requiring healthcare providers to publicly post the charges for their services and facilities.
With health falling under state jurisdiction and day-to-day regulatory enforcement sitting with individual states and union territories, Srivastava has written to chief secretaries urging them to direct the relevant authorities toward stronger on-the-ground compliance.
Pricing clarity for those travelling from abroad to seek care is identified as a focal point within the letter's stated priorities. Advisories have gone out to states and union territories asking them to put package-rate information for overseas patients arriving on medical or Ayush visas in plain view at relevant locations.
The letter states that overseas patients would gain clearer grounds for comparing costs and lodging complaints, and that the standing of India's conventional and Ayush healthcare offerings as a treatment destination could be reinforced.
In the communication directed at chief secretaries, Srivastava called for their direct involvement in the matter, urging them to circulate guidance to relevant authorities and healthcare facilities to ensure pricing information is posted in spots that are prominent, unobstructed, and easy for the public to find.
The letter identifies pricing transparency and accountability in healthcare delivery as central to the proposal, with straightforward access to cost information positioned as a routine expectation for anyone receiving treatment.
