Assam govt fixes rates for treatment of COVID in private hospitals

GUWAHATI: Assam government on Friday fixed the rates of private super speciality and general hospitals ranging from Rs 4000 to Rs 15,000 for treatment of COVID patients to ensure no discrepancy in charging patients for health care services in private hospitals, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Keshab Mahanta said.

The charges in private Super Speciality and general hospitals have been fixed for COVID patients considering the bed occupied in general ward, paying cabin and ICU (with and without ventilators), Mahanta announced at a press conference here.

In the case of super speciality hospitals, the daily rates for the general ward will be Rs 5,000, for shared cabin it will be Rs 6,500, ICU (without ventilator) Rs 10,000 and for ICU (with ventilator) the charqes have been fixed at Rs 15,000.

For other hospitals the daily rates have been fixed at Rs 4000 for general ward, Rs 5,000 for shared cabin, Rs 9,000 for ICU (without ventilator) and Rs 12,000 for ICU with ventilator.

The cost fixed include registration charges, bed and boarding charges, nursing, consultant charges, blood transfusion, oxygen charges, medicine and drugs as treatment protocol, pathology and radiology test charges, medical procedures, diagnostic tests, bio-medical waste disposal and sanitisation, PPE kits , N-95 masks among others.

Additional cost has to be borne for high-end investigations like C.T chest/HRCT chest/Di dimer and high end medicines like Remdesivir and Toclizumab among others, the minister said.

The rates fixed will be applicable for the patient under treatment till they test COVID negative and any subsequent treatment shall be according to regular rates of the hospital, Mahanta said.

The charges for the treatment of COVID patients should be made known to the public and will be monitored by the Director of Health Services.

All private hospitals must admit the patients immediately, according to the admission protocols and the emphasis should be on patient care.

The rates fixed by the government will come into force with immediate effect and will remain until further orders.

The minister said that it has been also decided to set ICU Pediatric wards in the seven Medical College Hospitals in the state and in the district hospitals.

In the medical colleges 320 ICU beds and in the district hospitald 250 such beds will be set up within a month, he added.