Haryana forms committee to put cap on Covid-19 treatment charges

Gurgaon: The state government on Monday formed a committee to decide on capping Covid-19 treatment charges at private hospitals in Gurgaon, said officials.
The move comes after several complaints were filed with the authorities concerned regarding overcharging by these hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients.
The committee, set up under the chairmanship of the Divisional Commissioner of Gurgaon, will have to submit a report on the same in the next two days. The panel comprises senior IAS officers and the chief medical officer (CMO) of Gurgaon are member of the committee
“A committee has been formed to submit a report on hospital charges,” said GMDA chief executive officer VS Kundu, adding that the government may regularise the treatment cost.
Kundu said most of the Covid-19 patients do not need intensive care and advance medical treatment and all that they need is health care in isolation.
The complaints stated that these hospitals here charge Rs 6 lakh and above for the treatment of Covid-19 patients with no comorbi-dity. If a patient requires ICU or ventilator support then charges increase significantly, said complainants.
The residents alleged that the private hospitals are demanding Rs 50,000- Rs 1 lakh advance payment at the time of admission following which they will charge Rs 30,000-Rs 40,000 per day. The charges for a ventilator is said to be separate.
“I had no serious complications. They gave me with a bed in a separate room and a regular treatment. For this, they charged me Rs 25,000 per day. One needs to be in hospital at least for 14 days and I ended up paying several lakhs,” said a Covid-19 patient, who was recently discharged from a private hospital.
The patient also said an insurance company paid a partial amount but he had to cough up a huge sum. He added that patients with complications are exhausting their savings in paying hospital bills. Last week, Maharashtra government had reduced the price of Covid-19 testing at private labs to Rs 2,200 from Rs 4,500. The Maharashtra government also ordered that cities like Mumbai can further reduce the price at a local level.
On March 23, when Covid-19 outbreak was at its initial stage, ACS (Health) Haryana issued an order regarding fixation of package rates of Covid19 treatment in private medical colleges and hospitals. It had said private hospitals shall not charge more than the rates fixed for various treatment modalities under Ayushaman Bharat Scheme. At this time, patients in private hospitals were admitted only after being referred by a government hospital. The aim was to provide facilities to Covid-19 patients at minimal expenditure and at the same time financially viable rates for private hospitals for providing the lifesaving tertiary care services, isolation facilities and basic quarantine.
On April 20, another notification was issued for the mode of payment where it was mentioned that Covid-19 patients could avail treatment on a cashless basis.
In May when the number of cases increased significantly, the government gave a free run to private hospitals.
On May 22, another notification was issued as an amendment to the March 23-order, which stated that Covid-19 hospitals shall charge as per their existing rates.
However, the government would reimburse the expenditure only as per Ayushaman Bharat Scheme rates (for those eligible under the scheme). The balance amount would be paid by the patient.
When TOI contacted some of the private hospitals, they claimed to charge as per their existing rate. “We charge only for room and other healthcare services. The Covid-19 patients remain at the hospital for a longer duration so cumulative charges shoot up,” said a representative of a private hospital, adding that usually people are discharged after three days even in case of surgery.