The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned by a fortnight the hearing of a PIL for a master plan on affordable healthcare, especially in times of a public health crisis like COVID-19.
A Bench led by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde, in August, found it unfortunate that the National Health Bill of 2009, which defined “affordable” healthcare, had not seen “the light of the day”.
The court had directed the Centre to use its powers under the Disaster Management Act to come up with a master plan by taking a cue from the already existing Public Health Acts of various States and the National Health Bill, 2009.
The top court had earlier said that no one should be turned away from hospitals due to higher cost of treatment.
The court is examining a plea by advocate Sachin Jain, who has sought direction for regulating the cost of treatment of COVID-19 at private hospitals.
