30 complaints of overcharging, only 13 resolved

Noida/Ghaziabad: At least 30 complaints of overcharging, including those related to chest HRCT scans, beds, ICU, room rates and admission, have been submitted in the past five days to the GB Nagar CMO’s office. Of these, 13 have been resolved while notices have been sent to 11 hospitals.
“There are some cases that are still in review. Notices will be sent to these hospitals too. In many cases, the complainants are unaware of the government rates and think that they have been overcharged by private hospitals. We have informed them and these cases have been settled,” said Dr Anil Gupta, nodal officer for complaints related to overcharging.
The state government’s order on May 20 had capped the chest HRCT rates at Rs 2,500. After some residents complained of overcharging, TOI spoke to various hospitals across Noida. While most private hospitals were charging Rs 2,500 as per government norms, one quoted Rs 8,900. Dr Gupta said the hospital reduced its rates after a warning.
“We got one complaint of overcharging for HRCT, but the hospital has already revised its rates and returned the excess to the patients,” he said.
Though notices are being sent to the medical facilities, the first complaint to the department filed over a month ago is yet to be resolved, even as officials said they are trying to get the hospital and complainant to reach an agreement.
Mudit Maheshwari, a Noida resident, had filed a complaint of overcharging against a private hospital after his father-in-law passed away due to Covid-19. He filed a complaint with the CMO, called the helpline and spoke to several health department officials but no action was taken till he tweeted about it.
“We had a discussion with the hospital and the complainant and the issue will be resolved soon,” said Dr Gupta.
In Ghaziabad, the new order capping chest HRCT scan rates has created confusion among hospitals and patients.
While this rate is for scanning of the chest only, many patients are insisting that it apply to scans of other parts of the body too. Health department officials said they have not received any complaint of overcharging, but many hospitals called them saying they were finding it difficult to deal with patients’ attendants about the HRCT scan rates.
“The order, passed under the Epidemic Diseases Act, clearly states that it is meant for Covid patients only. It is done so that Covid is easily diagnosed in symptomatic patients who are otherwise negative in RT-PCR tests. We have asked hospitals to spread awareness about the new rates,” said a senior health official.