Kolkata, June 10 (IANS) A bill to amend the existing West Bengal Clinical Establishments Act will be moved by the Mamata Banerjee government during the state Assembly’s ongoing session.

A senior member of the cabinet said that amending the State Clinical Establishment Act has become necessary following frequent complaints received by the health department against private medical establishments, accusing the latter of not maintaining any transparency in their billing systems.

“The main complaint is that often these private establishments are alluring patients by announcing specific packages for particular treatments. However, often patients availing of the treatment under those packages are charged much more than what was announced in the packages. In that case, the extra amounts are shown as miscellaneous charges. The amended State Clinical Establishment Act will address these irregularities,” the cabinet member said.

In the amended bill, it has been made mandatory for private medical establishments to charge patients only at the rates mentioned in the respective packages. “In case some extra charges are required to be added, the authorities of the private medical establishments concerned will have to inform the family members in advance and get their consent for charging the extra charges,” the Minister said.

At the same time, he added, the extra charge could be passed on as “miscellaneous charges” as has been done so far. “A detailed explanation along with the exact breakup of the charges will have to be provided to the patient’s family members,” he said.

Once the amended bill is passed in the Assembly, it will be sent to the office of the governor for the latter’s clearance, following which the bill will be converted into a full-fledged Act.

The monsoon session of the West Bengal Assembly started on Monday. However, the House was adjourned for the day after “Obituary Mentions” as per protocol. It has resumed from Tuesday and will continue for the next two weeks.

–IANS

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