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The Hindu
Wednesday, June 16, 2008
Cross-subsidise treatment costs for poor people, Chidambaram tells private hospitals
Get well soon!: Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram talking to a patient after commissioning a heart scan equipment at K.G. Hospital in the city on Sunday. Hospital Chairman G. Bakthavathsalam (right) and Indian Bank Chairman and Managing Director M. S. Sundara Rajan (left), are in the picture.
COIMBATORE: Private hospitals should cross-subsidise the cost of treatment as the government alone would not be able to bear the cost of free treatment or concessional rates for poor sections, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here on Sunday.
Equipment
Commissioning a 128 slice computed tomography heart scan equipment at K.G. Hospital in the city, he said all healthcare organisations should resort to cross-subsidisation in order to provide all sections access to quality healthcare.
“They should do it just as the banks have interest rates that vary with the financial strength of the beneficiary group,” he said.
The cost of this scan equipment would certainly be high.
It could not be sold cheap as it involved the costs of intellectual property rights.
Charges
Therefore, the charges for using it would also be high. But free treatment could be possible through cross-subsidisation, wherein higher rates could be taken from sections who could afford these and concessional charges or free scanning could be offered to the poor.
On making these choices, he said, “I know that running a hospital is a very difficult task, unlike running a government.
“You (hospitals) do not have an Opposition. As for the government, the Opposition shows it which is the right path and which is the wrong one.”
Responding to the call for cross-subsidisation, hospital chairman G. Bakthavathsalam said free scanning would be offered to those who were in no position to pay anything at all.
Referring to the Rs.11,000 crore investment made by Siemens (who provided the scan equipment) in India, the Finance Minister said this was possible for the company only because the country was a good market.
“We cannot deny that they do this for profit. But, in the process we get new technology.”
Mr. Chidambaram also called upon all sections to understand and use technology.
“There is rapid growth in science and technology. But, I am concerned that people have not fully understood technology.
“Children who are keen on using computers are forced back to textbooks by their parents. They should motivate children to seek knowledge beyond textbooks.”
Indian Bank Chairman and Managing Director M.S. Sundara Rajan said that lifestyle and stress-related diseases were on the rise even as the country registered good economic growth. Therefore, there was a need to take care to focus on good healthcare and awareness of various problems.
“We realise the importance of a heart check-up only when a relative dies of heart attack,” he said.
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