Covid-19: Punjab cap on private hospitals rates only for ‘bonafide’ residents

CHANDIGARH: To discourage patients from other states coming to Punjab for Covid-19 treatment, the state government has kept the outsiders out of the ambit of price capping fixed for treatment in private hospitals.
After much delay, the Punjab government had on July 16 fixed treatment charges ranging between Rs 4,500 to Rs 18,000 per day for Covid-19 patients availing treatment at private medical colleges\hospitals\nursing homes with an aim to prevent patients from being fleeced by private centres. However, a day later, the health department issued an order stating that the approved rates would be applicable only to ‘bonafide’ residents of the state, who self-report to private institutions for management of Covid-19.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, a senior health official on request of anonymity, maintained that there has been an increase in the number of people coming from other states for getting tested and treated in Punjab, putting an additional burden on the already stressed resources. “We are duty bound to safeguard the interest of our people,” said the official.
According to the health department’s record, residents of many states, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka have received treatment in Punjab and majority of these patients were from Delhi. Even health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu had last month raised the issue of symptomatic people from Delhi coming to Punjab for treatment.
500 patients from other states in Punjab hospitals
About 500 patients from other states have so far received treatment in Punjab’s hospitals, both private and government-run. In the ongoing month, the health department detected about 20 patients from other states undergoing treatment at different hospitals in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Mohali.
Ever since lifting of restrictions, there has been a continued surge in the number of positive cases in the state. Punjab has reported about 53% of its total positive cases in the last 20 days. Out of 10,510 cases, 5,568 were reported from July 1 to July 20. There has also been a substantial rise in the number of patients requiring oxygen and ventilator support.
Grappling with limited resources, the state government heavily depends on private facilities to bear the additional pressure. Out of the 1,916 Covid intensive care unit (ICU) beds across the state, 1,006 are in government hospitals and medical colleges and 910 are in private facilities. The health minister said the decision was taken keeping in mind the interest of ‘our’ people. He, however, clarified that the government will not stop people from other states from coming here for treatment. “They will have to pay the rates fixed by the private hospitals,” said Sidhu.
The health department vide its order on July 17 also clarified that the approved rates are applicable for isolation wards only and the patients will have to pay for special rooms as per hospital practice. For the patients with insurance cover, any rates determined between hospitals and insurance company and corporate employee will be applicable.