The State’s COVID-19 task force, which met here on Thursday, slightly modified and approved the cost of treatment in private hospitals recommended by an eight-member committee set up by the government on June 4. The revised rates have been referred to the State Cabinet for ratification.
The eight-member committee, set up to do a costing study, had on June 5 discussed the proposal submitted by the Federation of Healthcare Associations of Karnataka (FHA-K) and recommended that the proposed rates were “reasonable” and hence could be adopted. However, the ceiling of the rates proposed for non Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) patients (cash and private insurance patients) should be slashed by 20%, the committee had said.
Sources said the task force revised the rates based on this recommendation so as to make it more “feasible” for the government, private hospitals, and patients. “The task force was of the opinion that there should be no room for private hospitals to fleece persons not covered by any insurance and those paying in cash. Hence, the rates for such patients have also been revised and fixed,” a source said.
Health Minister B. Sriramulu said that the committee’s recommendation was discussed at the task force meeting on Thursday. “It [revised rates] will be placed at the next Cabinet meeting and a final decision will be taken. The rates will be notified after that,” the Minister said.
The committee, headed by N.T. Abroo, executive director of Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust, which implements the State’s health insurance schemes, had made its recommendation after studying the costing models adopted by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Punjab.
The committee had recommended that the proposal of the FHA-K for AB-ArK patients was “acceptable” as it included PPE and other consumables, apart from bed charges and routine investigations. The FHA-K had proposed a daily rate of ₹5,200 for Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) patients and ₹15,000 for other insurance and cash patients for the general ward.
For treatment in a ward with oxygen, a rate of ₹7,000 was fixed for AB-ArK and ₹20,000 for other insurance and cash patients. For isolation ICU, the FHA-K proposed ₹8,500 for AB-ArK patients and ₹25,000 for other insurance and cash patients. For treatment in isolation ICU with ventilator, the proposed rate was ₹10,000 for AB-ArK patients and ₹35,000 for other insurance and cash patients.
The task force has now made a few changes to these daily rates.