Karnataka plans policy barring hospitals from holding bodies over unpaid bills

Karnataka's Health Department is preparing a clear policy to stop hospitals from withholding the bodies of deceased patients over outstanding medical bills, Health Minister U.T. Khader announced on Thursday. The move follows a recent meeting between the department and representatives of private hospitals, held to ease the burden of medical expenses on people. Khader said no hospital should keep a body because a bill is unpaid, and that the government intends to set out rules on the matter.

The same meeting covered other concerns. Hospital representatives raised issues involving the fire department, the pollution control board and the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act, which the minister said would be addressed. Medicine prices and insurance claims were also on the agenda. The report gives no timeline for the new policy.