“On Thursday, we sent them a letter to this effect. The hospital told us they will get back to us by Saturday,” Dr Jadhav told The Indian Express. (Representational)The committee appointed by the state government to look into the alleged inflated bill given to Covid-19 patients has asked the Aditya Birla Hospital to refund Rs 5 lakh to 25 patients who underwent treatment at the hospital.
Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) Hospital’s deputy medical superintendent Dr Shankar Jadhav, who heads the audit team of the government-appointed committee, said the hospital has been asked to refund the amount as they found it has “overcharged patients”. “On Thursday, we sent them a letter to this effect. The hospital told us they will get back to us by Saturday,” Dr Jadhav told The Indian Express.
Dr Jadhav said that during the audit, they found that the hospital had violated the state government norms regarding billing a Covid patient. “At least in 25 cases we found that the hospital had overcharged patients for medicine, admission to general wards, PPE kits and other related aspects,” he said. A hospital spokesperson said they would reply to the letter sent by the committee.
PCMC Additional Health Commissioner Dr Pavan Salve said the state government has directed PCMC doctors to inspect the bills of private hospitals. “Our team of doctors will be part of the state government-appointed committee. After the private hospitals hand over a draft bill to the patients, our audit team will verify whether the charges are as per the government norms. After that the final bill will be handed over to patients. This will help in reducing the complaints of overcharging,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PCMC Standing Committee meeting has approved Rs 32 crore expenditure for development works, including for measures to control Covid-19. The meeting was presided over by Chairman Santosh Londhe through video-conferencing.
The committee said for setting up of the jumbo Covid hospital, Rs 70 crore is being spent. PMRDA, which is constructing the hospital, has demanded Rs 25 crore from PCMC as part of its share. However, the committee has sanctioned Rs 10 crore. For Covid Care Centres being set up in different parts of the industrial city, the committee sanctioned Rs 49 lakh.
But the committee stayed an administrative proposal for purchase of oxygen therapy machines worth Rs 3.25 crore. Committee member Sulakshna Dhar opposed the plan while arguing that when one machine was available for Rs 90,000 why was it being purchased for Rs 2.50 lakh each.