Jaipur: The Rajasthan state government and doctors are at odds over the controversial Right to Health Bill, leaving patients in Rajasthan hospitals in a "catch-22" predicament. The Right to Health Law aims to create a state-level health authority to oversee hospitals and clinics and act as a platform for grievance redressal if complaints are filed.

Private medical professionals are requesting that the legislation, which was first presented in the state assembly in September 2022 and later sent to a select committee for further discussion, be withdrawn because it will interfere with their daily operations and could burden privately run hospitals financially in addition to increasing their risk of assault and frequency of violence. Every resident of the state is entitled, under the Right to Health Bill, to emergency medical care from any public health institution, healthcare facility, or authorized healthcare center without having to pay the required price in advance.

On March 21, 2023, the Rajasthan Assembly passed the legislature by voice vote amidst a wave of protests that spread throughout the state. Doctors opposing the bill are calling it problematic since it defines a "healthcare establishment" as the whole or any portion of a public or private institution, structure, building, or location used to provide healthcare.

Dr. Sharad Kumar Agarwal, National President of the IMA, blasted the Rajasthan government, accusing it of avoiding its duty to provide people with high-quality healthcare and instead shifting the load onto the already overworked private sector hospitals.

Dr. Praveen Chand Garg, Secretary of the IMA Rajasthan Chapter, expressed concern about the dearth of amenities at private hospitals. While an emergency might differ from a therapeutic perspective, the government needs to step up and define it properly.

Leading the demonstration on March 27 termed as Black day after failing to negotiate with the government, Dr. Vijay Kapoor, secretary of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Society, warned that the Right to Health Bill will devastate the state if it were to become law.

Dr. JA Jayalal, the immediate national president of the IMA, reiterated that the government can guarantee that the money spent by private hospitals will be reimbursed in some way, whether through direct transfer or compensation.

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/right-to-health-bill-unthoughtful-populist-and-over-enthusiastic-doctors/99038430 )