Facing a greedy private hospital? Know your legal recourse

In this final article of the Trick-or-Treat series, Express aims to refresh readers’ memory of the Government Order (G.O.) that limited the maximum that hospitals can charge for Covid treatment. Issued on May 22 in response to many complaints of hospitals fleecing patients, the G.O had also warned of punitive action against erring private hospitals. Salient points of the G.O. are as follows: 

Under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), non-critical cases without oxygen support can be charged Rs 5,000 a day; non-critical cases with oxygen support can be charged Rs 15,000 a day; cases requiring ICU facility with invasive ventilation can be charged Rs 35,000 a day; cases requiring ICU facility with non-invasive ventilation, CPAP, and BiPAP oxygen devices can be charged Rs 30,000 a day; and cases requiring ICU facility with only oxygen support can be charged Rs 25,000 a day. The cost of medicines and other ICU tests will also be borne by government.

As for those not covered under the CMCHIS, non-critical cases not requiring oxygen support can be charged Rs 7,500 a day at Grade A1 and A2 hospitals, and Rs 5,000 at Grade A3 to A6 hospitals. In the same category, non-critical cases requiring oxygen support can be charged Rs 15,000 a day; those requiring ICU facility with non-invasive ventilation, CPAP, and BiPAP oxygen devices can be charged Rs 30,000 a day; cases requiring ICU facility with invasive ventilation can be charged Rs 35,000 a day; and those requiring ICU facility with only oxygen support can be charged Rs 25,000 a day. The State government had graded private hospitals based on infrastructure, bed strength, and other facilities. 

Patients who wish to receive treatment in private hospitals under the CMCHIS, now require no referral form from a government doctor. Hospitals that breach these rules will be punished. The Coimbatore district administration has so far barred two such private hospitals from offering Covid treatment to patients.