Raj Thackeray Urges Higher Fees for Out-of-City Patients at Mumbai’s Civic Hospitals

Mumbai, India: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray has urged BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani to impose higher medical fees on patients from outside Mumbai seeking treatment at civic-run hospitals.

In a meeting at the BMC headquarters on Friday, Thackeray submitted a demand letter highlighting that KEM Hospital, with 2,250 beds, caters to over 10,000 patients daily, while 30 to 35 lakh patients from other states seek treatment in Mumbai’s civic hospitals annually. He argued that the increasing influx of out-of-city patients must be managed to ensure accessible healthcare for Maharashtra residents.

“Given these numbers, can we implement different charges for out-of-state patients? We discussed possible ways to enforce this,” Thackeray stated.

This isn’t the first time such a proposal has been raised. A similar move in 2016 was opposed by the then-ruling Shiv Sena in 2017, with corporators calling it discriminatory. However, in 2023, the proposal resurfaced as a potential measure to reduce the burden on BMC hospitals.