Mangaluru: As the public reels from exorbitant medical fees and extortion by private hospitals, health minister UT Khader reading out provisions of the old Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Act to the media appears to be an attempt to mislead the public, said DYFI state secretary Santhosh Bajal.He noted that speaking as if the minister has just discovered the rules of an act that has been in force since 2007 will not resolve people’s healthcare struggles. “The act exists and the rules exist, but does the govt have the political willpower to strictly enforce them? That is the real question today,” he said.The KPME Act contains regulations governing private hospitals and clinics, with several amendments introduced over the years. He said that despite the law being in place for years, the govt’s inability to effectively regulate treatment charges in private hospitals represents an administrative failure.“Rather than merely reading out legal provisions to the media, the health minister must inform the public about the concrete steps taken against hospitals violating these regulations. Varying charges for the same treatment across hospitals, unaffordable care costs, unnecessary diagnostic tests, and mounting bills until discharge remain real challenges for common citizens. In this context, issuing statements identifying wrong practices is easy, but taking action as the governing authority is the true responsibility,” he said.He reminded the minister about DYFI’s campaigns in Dakshina Kannada by visiting private hospitals since 2015 to demand the mandatory display of treatment price lists and urging statewide enforcement. “You were the health minister back then as well. If a full solution to this legitimate public demand could not be provided from then until now, what benefit do current statements bring? Instead of presenting DYFI’s years-old demand as a new idea, the minister should implement it on the ground,” he said.Demanding that the health department strengthen public healthcare, Santhosh said that district-level regulatory bodies under the KPME Act should be granted powers and sufficient staff to swiftly investigate complaints regarding medical malpractice, unnecessary testing, illegal fee extraction, and regulatory breaches.
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