Right to Health Bill Passed By Rajasthan

What is a bill?

A bill is a suggestion for new laws or changes to current laws. A bill's purpose is to create a law that everyone must follow. Before a bill becomes law, it must go through many steps.

Once the bill is written, it is discussed in the Parliament or Assembly. If enough individuals believe the bill is good, it is passed. Sometimes, the bill may also be sent to a committee to study it properly. In such cases, the bill may pass after the committee returns it. 

Recently, Rajasthan became the first state to pass the Right to Health Bill.

What is the Bill all about?

The Bill allows everyone in the state of Rajasthan to get treated for free at all public and some private hospitals and clinics. Treatment includes consultation, medicines, emergency care, etc.

All citizens must also be given emergency treatment and care in the event of an accident without paying any fees in advance. If a patient cannot pay for their care, the hospital can ask for payment from the state government.
The Government passed the Bill, ignoring protests from doctors and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The doctors asked that the Bill be withdrawn.

Why are there protests against the Bill?

The BJP insisted that only private multispecialty hospitals should be able to provide free treatments. So patients could avail complete care for various health concerns without travelling to many locations. Also, rather than having multiple complaint forums, there should be only one complaint forum, so doctors are not inconvenienced.

The doctors were against the Bill because they believed it would increase pressure on them. They’d be forced to treat patients outside their expertise during an emergency. This can harm the patients.

What did the state government say?

The State Government has already passed the bill. The Government said it had spoken to doctors’ associations before passing the Bill. Further, doctors would not be forced to treat patients outside their expertise.

The Government said that the Bill allows patients to get proper treatment free of cost from anywhere in the state.