India, Jan. 19 -- American Corporate giants Blackstone and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) have been acquiring private hospitals in Kerala on a war footing. If not properly regulated, it will have very adverse consequences for the Kerala model of health delivery, which has been held up as a model for other parts of the country and the world.

The only motive for the corporate takeover of the private hospitals in Kerala is profit. They intend to introduce the medical care system prevalent in the USA, based on the principle "no health insurance, no treatment." In this system, the insurance companies decide what treatment the patient requires, not the doctors. Health facilities will be run by MBAs, not medical practitioners.

Kerala's he...