Govt moves to hike license, renewal fees of private health facilities

Sayeed Muhammad: In a major healthcare revamp, The government has taken a step to increase the license and renewal fees of: private medical colleges, hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic centres—to
increase revenue collection from this sector.
If implemented, this will be first such fees hike in the sector since 1982, reports UNB referring to the Finance Ministry.
The annual and renewal fees in divisions and city corporations, for a 10-50-bed hospital, will be Tk50,000. On the district level, the fees will be Tk40,000 and on the upazila level the fees will be Tk25,000.
The fees for 51-100-bed private hospitals and clinics will be Tk1 lakh for divisions and city corporation areas, Tk75,000 for districts, and Tk50,000 at the upazila level.
For 101-249-bed private hospitals and clinics the fees will be Tk1.50 lakh for divisions and city corporations, Tk1 lakh for districts, and Tk75,000 for upazilas.
250-bed private hospitals in divisions and city corporations will have to pay Tk2 lakh for annual and renewal fees, while those in the district level Tk1.50 lakh and the upazila level Tk1 lakh.
Category-A diagnostic labs that have routine: pathology, biochemistry, microbiology, haematology, x-ray, ultra-sonogram, microbiology, immunology, hormone tests, radiology, imaging, CT Scans and MRIs are now paying Tk1,000 for license and renewal fees.
These fees will be Tk50,000, Tk40,000 and Tk25,000 in divisions/city corporations, districts and upazilas respectively.
For the Category-B diagnostic labs, the rates will be Tk35,000, Tk25,000 and Tk20,000 respectively.
For Category-C, the rates will be Tk25,000, Tk20,000 and Tk15,000 respectively.
The medical centres established to provide check- ups for people going abroad have to pay Tk1 lakh, instead of the existing Tk1,000, as set-up and renewal fees.
To set up dental clinics, the rates will be Tk30,000, Tk25,000 and Tk20,000 for divisions/city corporations, districts and upazilas respectively.