The Keralam government’s announcement that it will make private health care more “affordable” through consultations with the private health sector, and that a Bill in this regard was in the offing, should be seen against the State’s seven-year legal battle before the Kerala High Court upheld the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulations) Act 2018, throwing out all objections raised by private hospitals.

The KCE Act was the first ever attempt made in the State to bring the entire health sector, public and private, under a regulatory framework.