Maximum cost of Covid-19 treatment at private hospitals in Noida, Ghaziabad capped

The Uttar Pradesh government, in an order issued Friday, fixed price caps for coronavirus (Covid-19)-related treatments provided by private hospitals across the

The Uttar Pradesh government, in an order issued Friday, fixed price caps for coronavirus (Covid-19)-related treatments provided by private hospitals across the state. The government fixed per day charges which hospitals can levy – Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000 – for different categories of treatments for moderate, severe, and very severe Covid-19 symptoms. However, there is some confusion as the government order does not mention whether the per-day charges include cost of medicine, laboratory tests or consumables. Costs of treatment differs in private hospitals of tier A, B and C cities, as per the order, which identifies Noida area, Ghaziabad city, Meerut, Kanpur, Lucknow and Agra, among some others, as tier A cities.

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According to the order, issued by Amit Mohan Prasad, UP’s additional chief secretary (ACS - health), the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH)-accredited super-specialty hospitals are allowed to charge Rs 10,000 (including cost of Rs 1,200 for PPE kit) for moderate sickness (which includes isolation beds including supportive care and oxygen); Rs 15,000 (including Rs 2,000 PPE cost) for severe sickness (which includes ICU without need for ventilator care); and Rs 18,000 (including Rs 2,000 cost of PPE kit) for very severe sickness (which includes ICU with ventilator care).

The rates for non-NABH accredited hospitals were stated to be Rs 8,000, Rs 13,000 and Rs 15,000 for moderate sickness, severe sickness and very severe sickness, respectively.

“We have received the government order and it has been implemented and forwarded to private hospitals providing paid Covid-19 treatment. However, there is no clarity about charges on medicines, consumables, etc. We will write to the state government on whether the charges include other costs or not,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

In Ghaziabad, the health department has given permission for paid Covid treatment to eight different hospitals which are now contributing with 544 paid Covid beds, overall.

For the notified hospitals, the state government pays up for per day treatment at the rate of Rs 4,500 for an ICU bed, Rs 2,700 for high dependency units and Rs 1,800 for general ward to the acquired hospital.

“For acquired hospitals, the government pays hospitals directly but for the patient, all Covid-19 treatments are free of cost in government or government-acquired facilities. We now have eight hospitals with 544 beds for Covid-19 patients, on a paid basis, and the cost is to be borne by the patient. The order for the price cap has no specific mention about other charges,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer, Ghaziabad.

The district wing of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), however, was of the view that the prices of medicines are perhaps left out of the order due to the variations in prices of individual medicines or lab tests. “We are presuming that rates of medicines, laboratory investigation, etc., are excluded from the prices mentioned in the government order. If such items are included, the price capping will not be feasible for private hospitals as there are many medicines which have high rates and inclusion of their prices will not be feasible,” said Dr VB Jindal, president, IMA, Ghaziabad.

The order further states that super-specialty hospitals in tier B and C cities can charge 80% and 60%, respectively, of the charges specified for tier-A cities. The order also mentions that the hospitals will have to reserve 20% of the number of beds for government officers/employees and for patients registered under the Ayushman Bharat Yojna.

The state government on May 1 had allowed private hospitals to impart paid Covid treatment where cost was to be borne by the patient in case the hospital is not acquired by the state government.

In another government order on Friday, the state government gave temporary permission to private medical colleges to run Covid-19 wards and also fixed charges for different wards for different categories of private medical colleges.

Unlike the order issued by the ACS (health), another order issued by Rajnish Dubey, additional chief secretary (medical education), however, specified different charges.

The order stated that the package rates will be all inclusive, and will include bed, food, amenities, doctors’ consultation, nursing charges, consumables and all other treatments, including oxygen, blood transfusion, supportive care and physiotherapy.

“The package will include medical management of underlying co-morbid conditions like hypertension, diabetes, cardio-vascular illness and chronic pulmonary/kidney/hepatic diseases. This will include emergency management procedures such as acute haemodialysis, if needed, and non-invasive ventilation such as high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP),” Dubey’s order had stated.

The price capping of private hospitals in the state is based on the recommendations of a committee formed under Dr VK Paul, member, Niti Ayog. After complaints of overcharging against private hospitals, Union home minister Amit Shah in June constituted a committee under Dr Paul to fix rates charged by private hospitals in Delhi for isolation beds, ICUs without ventilator support and ICUs with ventilator support.