LHC upholds PHC’s power to regulate prices of medical services

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has declared that Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) possesses the lawful authority, as envisaged under Punjab Healthcare Commission Act, 2010, to regulate and control the prices of healthcare services, including those provided by diagnostic labs.

The court passed the judgment in a case challenging the commission’s authority to fix prices of the services, provided by the healthcare institutions under PHC Regulations (Pricing of Healthcare Services), 2023 on the grounds of being ultra vires to the Constitution of Pakistan and Punjab Healthcare Commission Act, 2010.

The petitioner, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust and another vs Punjab government, through its counsel (Writ Petition No. 82278 of 2023), argued that the impugned regulations are beyond the confines of the Act, 2010 whereby commission possessed no lawful authority to fix prices of the services provided by the healthcare institutions, including the ceiling price. The regulatory regime contemplated under Section 40 of the Act, 2010 at the most, can ask the petitioners to provide and display a price list and investigate any complaint for charging over and above the said price for the services provided by the healthcare institutions. It was stressed by the counsel that under no circumstances, prices for the services provided by healthcare institutions can be fixed under the garb of regulations.

The judge, Raheel Kamran, however, concluded that under Regulations of Act, 2010, “the Section 40(2)(m) unequivocally states that the Commission may formulate regulations regarding control of prices of healthcare services pricing mechanism.”

This directly addresses the power to make regulations for control of prices of healthcare services and as noted above, the services provided for diagnosis fall within the definition of healthcare services and a diagnostic centre/lab is included in the meaning of healthcare establishment. Besides, the clause (4) of Chapter I of the impugned regulations states that the regulations apply, inter alia, to healthcare establishments, including but not limited to public or private hospitals and diagnostic centres.