While the Centre has claimed that decision on rendering free treatment in private hospitals or capping the charges is left to the State, the Tamil Nadu Government informed the Madras High Court on Wednesday that it has brought COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), covering 1.58 crore families.
Chennai: J Radhakrishnan, principal secretary, Health and Family Welfare, in a counter filed in response to a plea moved by Advocate Jimraj Milton, said the government has issued orders for the inclusion of new packages for treatment and testing of COVID-19 for beneficiaries under CMCHIS in empanelled private hospitals and labs.
On noting that the empanelled private hospitals have been instructed to earmark a minimum of 25 per cent of their bed capacity towards the patients referred by the government for non-critical care, he said: “the cost per day for treatment of non-critical COVID-19 cases for the public at A1 and A2 grade private hospitals and A3 to A6 private hospitals has been fixed at Rs 7,500 and Rs 5,000 respectively while for critical care COVID-19 cases at A1 to A6 private hospitals, the amount has been fixed at Rs 15,000 per day.”
The health secretary further submitted that the scheme covers 1.58 crore families whose annual income is less than Rs 72,000. Also, the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) launched by the Centre has also been implemented in Tamil Nadu by integrating it with CMCHIS. Hence, a majority of the public will be covered under CMCHIS, he said.
He further submitted that CMCHIS beneficiaries requiring critical care shall be admitted directly to any of the empanelled private hospitals designated for COVID treatment. He submitted that Rs 2,500 has been fixed as cost of RT-PCR testing under CMCHIS and Rs 500 as additional cost towards home visit. The plea is set to be taken up by a division bench for further hearing on Friday.
On noting that the empanelled private hospitals have been instructed to earmark a minimum of 25 per cent of their bed capacity towards the patients referred by the government for non-critical care, he said: “the cost per day for treatment of non-critical COVID-19 cases for the public at A1 and A2 grade private hospitals and A3 to A6 private hospitals has been fixed at Rs 7,500 and Rs 5,000 respectively while for critical care COVID-19 cases at A1 to A6 private hospitals, the amount has been fixed at Rs 15,000 per day.”
The health secretary further submitted that the scheme covers 1.58 crore families whose annual income is less than Rs 72,000. Also, the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) launched by the Centre has also been implemented in Tamil Nadu by integrating it with CMCHIS. Hence, a majority of the public will be covered under CMCHIS, he said.
He further submitted that CMCHIS beneficiaries requiring critical care shall be admitted directly to any of the empanelled private hospitals designated for COVID treatment. He submitted that Rs 2,500 has been fixed as cost of RT-PCR testing under CMCHIS and Rs 500 as additional cost towards home visit. The plea is set to be taken up by a division bench for further hearing on Friday.