The exclusion of certain items from government-capped prices for COVID-19 treatment has left wide scope for private hospital managements to fleece patients. Many such hospitals have billed as much as ₹1,500 for a single personal protective equipment (PPE) kit, three times higher than its actual cost. Suppliers of PPE kits in Hyderabad procure it for just ₹350-500!

Recently, Health department officials instructed private hospital managements to charge PPE kits and high-end drugs at maximum retail price (MRP), and display the cost at prominent places of their property. Besides, itemised bills have to be provided to patients.

A medical consumables supplier from the city who has been providing PPE kits from the time COVID-19 pandemic broke out said that he procures it from Rajasthan at ₹350 per kit. “We charge only ₹25-50 extra per kit while supplying. Those are made of 90 GSM spun bound non-woven fabric which means it is of good quality. Some wholesalers supply at low rates, but they have been asked by certain hospital managements to put a higher MRP tag on them. Though wholesalers don’t get a cut in the inflated MRP, they have to oblige to the hospitals’ request if they want to remain in business,” said the supplier on condition of anonymity. The kit includes a jump suit with head cover, shoe cover, mask and gloves.

Doctors who bought the kits to donate it to others said that though the prices went up to ₹1,600 in May, it has now dropped.

An entrepreneur in medical consumables, R. Shashank Reddy said that the best quality kits can be purchased at ₹800. “The wholesale cost was high during the lockdown. However after relaxations, the prices dropped as transportation costs too have come down. Best quality PPE kits can be purchased for ₹800,” Mr Reddy said.

One doesn’t even have to approach wholesale suppliers to buy the kits. Orders for it can be placed on e-commerce websites which has multiple options depending on the quality. In fact, people placed orders for use at home while taking care of a COVID-positive family member under home isolation.

People have lodged complaints about being overcharged by private hospitals. Vijay Gopal, president of Forum Against Corruption, said that a private hospital charged ₹1500 per kit. The cost for 64 kits used over a span of 12 days came up to ₹96,000. He has also lodged a complaint against it with the Director of Public Health.

Another hospital allegedly charged ₹12,000 per day for the PPEs and the bill for kits for 10 days of admission came up to ₹1.2 lakh. However, the number of kits provided per day was not mentioned. Some hospitals managements did not even give bill summary to attendants.