By The Hindu Bureau

Copyright thehindu

It is not the government’s policy to make patients who are beneficiaries of various free treatment schemes of the government buy medical equipment or accessories or implants when they seek treatment in public hospitals and it is the responsibility of the heads of healthcare institutions to ensure that patients do not end up paying for equipment or medicines, Health Minister Veena George said in the Kerala Assembly on Tuesday (September 16, 2025).

Mr. George said patients under various beneficiary schemes were to be provided all treatment free of cost, whereas for other patients, equipment and so on would be provided at subsidised rates.

During Question Hour, the Opposition chose to focus on the situation in medical college hospitals (MCHs) which came to light following a viral Facebook post by the Head of Urology at Thiruvananthapuram MCH that patients ended up having to buy equipment for surgery/procedures as the Hospital Development Society (HDS) had no means of procuring equipment.

The queries were raised by A.P. Anilkumar, I.C. Balakrishnan, Saneeshkumar Joseph and C.R. Mahesh.

However, the Health Minister chose to respond to the questions by detailing the free medical care the government was providing to people, the infrastructural additions being made in hospitals and how various interventions made by the government in Kerala’s health sector had increased the footfall in government hospitals.

She also chose to brush aside the question raised by Mr. Anilkumar about the ₹1,500 crore that government owed hospitals as Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) reimbursements, which was making health insurance access difficult for common people, by saying that the Finance department had released ₹92 crore recently and that the arrears would be cleared soon.

Satheesan hits back

However, Ms. George’s constant refuge in the statistics on health spending during the UDF rule 10 years ago and how the health sector fared then irked Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, who pointed out that the Health Minister “had no clear answers” as to how patients were being forced to buy equipment and even surgical cotton in government hospitals now, despite the huge developments in the health sector as claimed by Ms. George herself.

The Opposition also mocked the Health Minister for not being able to set the “system” right despite 10 years in rule.

Ms. George said she was tabling all the figures on increased investments in the health sector and challenged Mr. Satheesan to dispute them.

She also tabled the report of the expert committee which had looked into the allegations raised by the Urology HoD about how systemic issues were affecting patient care in medical college hospitals and said that as recommended by the said committee, the purchase rules in MCHs would have to be revamped so that the heads of institutions were able to procure necessary equipment.