Why does hospital treatment cost more in Telangana compared to several other States? A Parliamentary Standing Committee has pointed to the growing role of private healthcare, alongside gaps in public hospitals, as one of the factors behind the State’s high treatment expenditure.

A hospitalisation episode in Telangana costs about ₹55,000, placing the State among those with the highest healthcare expenditure in the country, according to Rajya Sabha’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. The finding has raised concerns over the affordability and accessibility of healthcare, particularly for households that depend heavily on private facilities.

The committee, in its report titled ‘Affordability and accessibility on healthcare facilities in public and private sector’ cited data from the 80th round of the National Sample Survey on Household Social Consumption: Health, conducted by the National Statistics Office between January and December 2025.

The cost in Telangana is higher than in several other States. An average hospitalisation episode costs around ₹52,000 in Tamil Nadu and ₹40,000 to ₹45,000 in Kerala and Karnataka. In comparison, the cost is about ₹22,000 in Odisha and ₹25,000 in Mizoram and Meghalaya, while Ladakh records an average of about ₹8,000.

The committee also cautioned against interpreting lower healthcare expenditure as evidence of better or more affordable healthcare. “Lower spending could also reflect poor access to medical facilities, lower utilisation of healthcare services or people being forced to opt for cheaper treatment because they cannot afford more expensive care,” it said.

Private healthcare emerges as a key factor

The committee’s observations point to the expanding private healthcare sector as one of the factors behind the higher cost of treatment in southern States, including Telangana.

The public-private divide becomes particularly stark when the cost of a hospitalisation episode is compared nationally. An average hospitalisation in a government hospital costs ₹6,631, while the corresponding cost in a private hospital is ₹50,508, according to the report. “Private hospital treatment can be five to 10 times more expensive than treatment in government facilities, with the difference becoming particularly significant in the case of serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and kidney failure,” the report said.

When public hospitals cannot keep up

The committee identified deficiencies in public healthcare infrastructure, shortages of medical personnel and overcrowding as factors that can drive patients towards private hospitals. It has recommended increasing bed capacity and specialist manpower in government hospitals, particularly in high-demand metropolitan centres.

It has also called for essential medicines, diagnostic services and modern amenities to be made available in public facilities so that patients do not have to turn to private hospitals simply to access basic or specialised care.

Hyderabad doctor flags private equity concerns

Hyderabad-based Ranga Reddy Burri, president of the Infection Control Academy of India, argued that the traditional family physician and referral system had virtually collapsed, resulting in patients approaching specialists directly even for relatively minor ailments.

According to him, this has left primary healthcare centres underutilised while tertiary hospitals become overcrowded. The absence of a structured referral pathway between primary, secondary and tertiary care, he argued, increases costs and can delay diagnosis and treatment.