Hospitals toe West Bengal govt cap line but long-term worries remain

KOLKATA: A day after the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI) decided to write to the state seeking reconsideration of the daily price cap on PPE and Covid test charges that have been fixed at Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,250 respectively, a section of private hospitals said they were ready to stick to the limit despite the fact that it would severely strain their finances. The state has also set a daily cap of Rs 1,000 on consultation charges. AHEI will also be appealing for a revision of this.

“Doctors are frontline warriors who are taking risks to care for patients, putting hours of effort in the hospital so that each patient can be sent home cured. Therefore, AHEI will be requesting the government to reconsider the cap on doctor consultation fee as well,” said Rupak Barua, AHEI president.
The decision to appeal to the government about revising the rates was taken jointly by hospitals in a meeting after the government directive.
“All private hospitals, including AMRI Hospital units, implemented the government’s order right after it was communicated. But we will appeal to the government to revise the capped rates in the hope that our request will be looked into,” added Barua.
Private hospitals said the PPE kits they use are of high quality — 95 GMS — which cost Rs 700 to Rs 800 per piece. Capping the charge at Rs 1,000, they feared, would force them to compromise with the quality.
While they were ready to cooperate with the government in this hour of crisis, sticking to the prescribed charges may not be sustainable in the long run, they feared. The order has been implemented under the WB Epidemic Disease 2020 Act and the WB Clinical Establishments Act, pointed out a private hospital official. “Under the current circumstances, we are united in this fight against the pandemic. In a widespread epidemic, private hospitals like us have been fighting to keep our necks above the water. Sustainability is our greatest challenge and, with this price capping, we will have to wait to see how long it will be feasible for us. We trust that enough consideration has been given to the costing issues we face and are hopeful that some respite will be given shortly for the huge direct and indirect costs we have been expected to bear,” said the official.
Some, like Medica Superspecialty Hospital, however, are ready to bear the “marginal loss”. Since the cost of PPE and tests have come down, the benefit should be passed on to patients, felt chairperson Alok Roy. “A PPE now costs Rs 500 and even if we use three per patient a day, we won’t be losing a huge amount. The same goes for tests. We shouldn’t be making money on these now,” said Roy.
Another private hospital official pointed out that “marginal losses” were inevitable now. “As it is, the number of non-Covid patients has dropped everywhere, which has squeezed our revenues. We must now accept that things will not change soon and we will have to bear temporary losses. After all, this will help to create goodwill for all of us,” said the official.