Stories
New Hospital Policy: Private hospitals can no longer withhold dead bodies for bills
- •The state government is formulating a new policy to stop private hospitals from withholding patients dead bodies to recover unpaid medical bills.
- •Hospitals that refuse to hand over dead bodies until bills are cleared will face strict legal action.
- •Health Minister UT Khader stated that previous laws from 2007 and 2018 had loopholes and were not implemented properly, necessitating a new law.
- •The government plans to introduce the new regulations after holding discussions with hospital associations and all relevant stakeholders.
Key Questions Answered
The state government is formulating a new policy and law to stop the practice of private hospitals withholding patients' dead bodies to recover unpaid medical bills. Under the upcoming health department regulations, hospitals will face criminal cases if they attempt to hold onto a body over bill conditions.
Health Minister UT Khader stated that previous laws introduced in 2007 and 2018 were not implemented properly. He noted that the 2018 provision allowing bodies to be handed over via a surety while permitting future lawsuits pressures struggling families into paying immediately, making a new law necessary.
The 2007 law stated that no hospital could retain a body, whereas the 2018 law prohibited retaining bodies under any circumstances but required a surety while allowing subsequent lawsuits if bills remained unpaid. Because people paid money to avoid these court cases, the state is now planning to amend and replace these rules.
