Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare, Fortis rise up to 5%. Here’s why

Synopsis

Hospital stocks surged up to 5% on Monday, October 6, after the government revised rates under the Central Government Health Services (CGHS) Scheme for nearly 2,000 medical procedures, effective October 13. This marks the first major update in over a decade, addressing complaints from empanelled hospitals that outdated rates previously discouraged them from offering cashless treatments.

Hospital stocks such as Apollo Hospitals, Max Healthcare, Global Health, Narayana Health, Yatharth Hospitals, and Fortis Healthcare gained up to 5% on Monday, October 6, after the government announced revised rates under the Central Government Health Services Scheme (CGHS) for nearly 2,000 medical procedures. The new rates will be applicable from October 13. This is the first major revamp in over a decade.

In the past, several hospitals empanelled under the CGHS had refused to offer cashless treatments, citing outdated package rates that failed to reflect medical inflation over the last decade.

As a result, patients often had to pay upfront and wait months for reimbursement. The updated framework introduces a multi-tiered rate structure based on four parameters – accreditation, hospital type, city category, and ward entitlement, with a 5% reduction for general wards.

NABH-accredited hospitals will serve as the benchmark for rates, while non-accredited facilities will be paid 15% lower. Rates will also vary by city tier, with tier-2 and tier-3 cities priced 10% to 20% below those in tier-1 locations.

Hospitals have largely welcomed the move, saying it should improve receivables and streamline cashless transactions. A preliminary assessment by DAM Capital indicates an average 25-30% increase across key procedures.

Among listed players, Fortis, Max, Narayana Health, and Yatharth are expected to benefit the most, given their higher exposure to government schemes — Yatharth’s share is around 35%. Other hospital chains such as Apollo Hospitals (9% exposure), Max Healthcare (21.8%), Global Health (18%), and Narayana Health (18%) are also likely to see some positive impact.

Apollo Hospital touched a day high of 3.7% at Rs 7,730 per share, while Fortis Healthcare gained 5% to Rs 1,027. Global Health touched an intra-day high of Rs 1,347, higher by over a percent.

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