Taking note of the different COVID-19 testing rates across the country, Supreme Court on Friday, asked the centre government to decide on the issue. The court has also directed all the states and union territories to set an expert panel for hospitals’ inspection to ensure proper patient care.
Supreme Court bench comprising of justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul, and M R Shah has observed that there should be uniformity in the charges for COVID-19 testing across all parts of the country as patients are being charged differently in different states.
The bench said that they are not going to venture into the fixation of charges for the COVID-19 testing and the centre has to take care of the issue. The centre is directed to set up a committee that will be fixing the state-wise rates.
“In some states, it is Rs 2,200 and in some, it is Rs 4,500. We will not fix a rate. You fix a rate,” said the bench.
Solicitor General appearing for centre government replied that it is better to leave the decision to the states, as some of the states may be thinking of setting the lower rates.
To which the bench has replied, “You fix the upper limit. States will do the rest.”
Besides fixing the rates of COVID-19 testing, the apex court may also consider installing the CCTVs in the hospitals in order to monitor the patient care properly.
