Goa caps rates for Covid patient admissions in private hospitals

PANAJI: The state government on Monday issued an order capping the rates for Covid-19 admission in private hospitals with intensive care units (ICUs). Private hospitals can thus no longer charge patients more than the approved rates — Rs 12,000/day for general ward, Rs 15,000/day for twin sharing, Rs 18,000/day for single room, and Rs 25,000/day for ICU with ventilator.
A senior official said that this capping was necessitated amid fears that patients opting for treatment in private hospitals may be overcharged.
He said that while they hadn’t received any written complaints of overcharging, they had heard that two hospitals raised their rates for Covid admissions.
Last week, health minister Vishwajit Rane said that an order capping rates to ensure that patients are not overcharged would be issued. Earlier, the directorate of health services had directed private hospitals with ICU beds to admit Covid patents and to share their rates. The government’s delay in issuing this order has also been questioned by some quarters.
The official said that in the absence of clarity on various charges, it left scope for private entities to bill patients more on items such as personal protection kits and other such items.
Thus, the order has classified rates to be charged in four categories, and what each should contain. The package includes bed charges, nursing, resident doctor’s fees, personal protection kit for staff, and routine medicines.
It, however, does not include fees to be charged by diagnostic intensivists, specialists’ fees, use of special drugs, special equipment, other special procedures including surgery, and extra oxygen flow other than ICU.
A source said that private hospitals charged between Rs 18,000-30,000 a day for Covid admissions when they first started, and this didn’t include the cost of food, investigations and medicines.
Currently, only four private hospitals in the state admit Covid patients, and their total bed capacity is not more than 100 beds. A vast majority of Covid-positive patients in the state are being treated in government-run facilities.
A doctor attached to a corporate hospital said that it is difficult to manage Covid patients because they too face issues of nursing staff shortage, and when their employees test positive, it reduces the hospital’s strength.
“Patient management in Covid wards becomes difficult when even one or two nurses fail to report to work,” he said. “It is difficult to keep the cost down to the bare minimum for various reasons. There is also the added risk of our non-Covid services getting affected when staff is diverted for Covid duties.”