‘Private hospitals pressured govt to cancel DDSSY Covid cover’

PANAJI: The government decision on Sunday to cancel the notification covering Covid treatment under the Deen Dayal Swashtya Seva Yojna (DDSSY), which was issued last week, was taken under pressure from private hospitals, two senior government officials told TOI.
Late on Sunday evening, health minister Vishwajit Rane, through a social media post, declared that after discussion with chief minister Pramod Sawant, the government decided to cancel the Covid-19 treatment under DDSSY. A fresh notification will be issued in consultation with the CM, he said.
A senior official said that private hospitals treating Covid patients were not happy with the two packages — Rs 64,400 for 14 days of treatment for mild covid and Rs 92,400 for 14 days for severe illness — offered under the amended DDSSY.
The government’s caps for Covid treatment in private hospitals are much higher. The per-day charges for admission to a general ward has been capped at Rs 10,000 per day, whereas the rate for admission to an ICU with ventilator has been capped at Rs 24,000 per day.
“With capped rates being high, certainly private hospitals would not have accepted the DDSSY packages as it meant that they would not be able to bill patients more. The government has given in to the pressure by the private hospital lobby,” a top official said.
With the majority of the state population being covered under the DDSSY scheme, people who would otherwise have avoided a private hospital for Covid treatment for being unable to afford their charges, would try to get admission at a private facility if insurance cover was available.
“With the notification withdrawn, private hospitals are now free to charge as per the capped rate,” the official said. “We do not know when the government will issue the fresh notification. The capped rates were much higher when the first order was issued more than a month ago. Charges were marginally reduced following a hue and cry by the public, and a fresh order was issued last month.”
Another official said that even the re-capped rates of the Goa government are much higher than the packages offered by the Maharashtra government.
“In Goa, hospitals dragged their feet even in accepting Covid patients, and now when they have opened a few beds, they are dictating terms to the government,” a senior official said. “I don’t understand what has stopped the government from invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act to act if private hospitals are unwilling to comply with the government order even during the pandemic.”
Since the pandemic began, a majority of the patients are treated in government hospitals, while private hospitals stepped in only in August.
There are around 800 beds in government hospitals, whereas four private hospitals have around 100 beds between them.
’Rane didn’t respond either to a call or a message by TOI seeking explanation for the government’s changed stance.