E-Paper
SC modifies order, says free private testing only for poor
The order was passed after the ICMR, private laboratories and a Delhi based doctor approached the top court seeking modification of its earlier order.
Free testing for Covid-19 in private laboratories will be available only to people covered by the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme and to economically weaker sections of society notified by the government as eligible for such free tests, the Supreme Court ordered on Monday, modifying its April 8 order, which forced private laboratories to offer free tests to everyone.
Private laboratories, the apex court said, can continue to charge people who can afford the testing fee as fixed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) at Rs 4500.
“Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare may issue necessary guidelines for reimbursement of cost of free testing of Covid-19 undertaken by private Labs”, the bench of justice Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat clarified.
The order was passed after the ICMR, private laboratories and a Delhi based doctor approached the top court seeking modification of its earlier order.
The apex court also gave liberty to the central government to decide whether any other categories of the weaker sections of the society like workers belonging to low income groups in the informal sectors or beneficiaries of Direct Benefit Transfer should also be eligible for free testing.
The Supreme Court, on April 8, ordered that tests for Covid-19 across government and private laboratories should be free of cost and no person should be deprived of Covid-19 tests because he was unable to afford it.
Up until that order was passed, private laboratories were allowed to charge up to Rs. 4,500 for conducting Covid-19 tests.
The petitioner, advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, approached the top court, submitting that government hospitals are packed to capacity, making it difficult for people to get themselves tested in government labs.
With no alternative in sight, people are forced to pay money to get the tests done at private labs, the petitioner said, adding that saddling ordinary citizens with such a financial burden effectively deprives them of their accessibility to medical facilities and is violative of right to life guaranteed under article 21 of the Constitution.
He, therefore, prayed that Covid-19 tests should be free even in private laboratories.
After the court allowed Sudhi’s plea on April 8, Dr. Mishra, who is a senior orthopedic surgeon, formerly at AIIMS, and currently at the super speciality Primus Hospital in Chanakyapuri, moved the top court submitting that several citizens have now been admitted and confined to hospitals and other facilities as potentially infected with Covid-19, but their test results remain pending for long periods, putting a strain on the system.
It was his plea that in such a scenario, casting the additional burden of offering tests for free could lead to private labs stopping their functioning altogether.
Further, private laboratories, through senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, told the court on Monday that if they are not allowed to charge any fee for the tests, it will be impossible for them to carry on the tests due to financial constraint and other relevant factors. They also pointed out that the kits which are utilised in the test are imported kits, which involve substantial expenses.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, referring to the affidavit submitted by ICMR, argued that about 107 million poor and vulnerable families (500 million beneficiaries) are covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and they can avail of the benefit of free Covid-19 tests even in the private labs.
“Free testing for Covid-19 shall be available to persons eligible under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana as already implemented by the Government of India, and any other category of economically weaker sections of the society as notified by the government for free testing for Covid-19, hereinafter... Private labs can continue to charge the payment for testing of Covid-19 from persons who are able to make payment of testing fee as fixed by ICMR,” the court directed after hearing the plea for modification.
The court also clarified that the order of April 8 was meant to help economically weak sections of society. “We further clarify that the order never intended to make testing free for those who can afford the payment of testing fee fixed by the ICMR for Covid-19,” the top court said.
Private labs welcomed the modified SC order.
Ameera Shah, the promoter and managing director of Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, which has been approved by ICMR for Covid-19 testing, said, “We stand by the decision of the honourable Supreme Court. The Government of India’s stand of allowing the free tests of the people covered under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme is a welcome move.”
