7 October 2026 (Navroze Bureau) Health rights groups have called for urgent government intervention to regulate charges levied by private hospitals and impose ceilings on trade margins for medicines, medical devices and medical consumables, amid growing concerns over rising healthcare costs and excessive patient bills.
The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) and the Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment have argued that patients often have limited ability to challenge high or arbitrary charges imposed by private healthcare providers. The groups want the Centre and state governments to establish clear limits for procedures, services and treatment costs, along with accessible and time-bound mechanisms through which patients can contest excessive bills.
The demand has gained attention amid renewed scrutiny of medicine pricing in hospital pharmacies. The Supreme Court recently questioned steep mark-ups on medicines, including a case involving a cancer drug that was supplied to retailers at around ₹2,700 but carried an MRP close to ₹27,000. The court has also raised concerns about patients being required to purchase medicines from hospital-linked pharmacies and asked the government to examine trade margins.
The health groups said the maximum retail price should not be treated as a justification for charging patients several times the procurement cost. They have called for regulation of margins across medicines, medical devices and consumables and argued that patients should be allowed to purchase medicines and medical products from outside hospital pharmacies wherever clinically appropriate.
Concerns are not limited to medicines. Health rights advocates have highlighted substantial differences between procurement costs and prices charged to patients for medical consumables used during hospitalisation. A recent Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration survey reportedly found margins of around 200 to 300 per cent on some consumables after examining bills from hospitals. The state FDA has proposed bringing frequently used hospital consumables and medical devices under a price-control framework.
The groups are also seeking regulation of private hospital charges for procedures and services. They have pointed to the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010, which provides a framework for regulating clinical establishments and envisages government-determined ranges of charges. However, health activists say its implementation has not produced an effective nationwide mechanism for controlling or standardising private healthcare costs.
According to the groups, patients should know the expected cost of treatment before agreeing to a procedure. They have proposed greater transparency in hospital billing, including clearer information about procurement costs and selling prices for medicines and consumables.
One proposal under discussion in Maharashtra is to require hospitals to disclose procurement prices alongside selling prices for certain medical consumables. Health advocates believe such disclosure could make it easier for patients to understand the actual cost of products being billed to them and identify unusually high mark-ups.
The issue also intersects with India’s existing drug-price regulation system. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority regulates prices of medicines covered under the relevant price-control framework, while scheduled drugs are subject to prescribed pricing mechanisms. The NPPA states that a 16 per cent retailer margin is applicable to scheduled drugs under the existing framework, while companies have greater freedom over margins for non-scheduled formulations.
Health groups have therefore called for a broader approach covering products and services that may fall outside existing price controls. Their demands include ceilings on hospital charges, regulation of trade margins, greater transparency in billing and an independent grievance-redress mechanism capable of resolving complaints within a defined timeframe.
They have also urged authorities to examine whether certain practices in private healthcare could raise competition concerns, particularly where hospitals or affiliated pharmacies influence which medicines and consumables patients must purchase. A review of such practices, they argue, could help improve patient choice and reduce avoidable costs.
At the same time, the groups have stressed that regulation of private healthcare should be accompanied by stronger public healthcare infrastructure. They are seeking increased public health spending and improved government hospitals so that patients have access to affordable alternatives rather than being forced to depend entirely on costly private facilities.
The demand comes as affordability remains a major concern for Indian households. A recent government parliamentary committee report noted a significant gap between average hospitalisation costs in private and public facilities and recommended mechanisms to standardise and cap costs for essential treatments, diagnostics and routine procedures in private hospitals.
Health advocates say effective regulation would need to balance fair pricing with the legitimate costs involved in providing specialised medical services. However, they argue that greater transparency and predictable pricing are essential to protect patients from unexpected financial burdens.
The groups are now pressing governments to move beyond individual complaints and establish a systematic framework for regulating private healthcare prices. Their central demand is that patients should be able to understand treatment costs in advance, access medicines at reasonable prices and have a clear avenue for challenging unjustified hospital bills.