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Private hospitals in Rajasthan oppose fixing of Covid-19 treatment costs, govt warns of action
The state government on Saturday fixed the amount chargeable by private labs and hospitals for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Private sector hospitals in Rajasthan are opposing the fixing of charges by the state government for treatment of Covid-19 patients, calling for a revision of rates even as the health minister on Tuesday warned of action against hospitals that fail to comply.
The state government on Saturday fixed the amount chargeable by private labs and hospitals for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Private labs can charge Rs 2,200 per test while private hospital can charge Rs 2,000 per day for a bed while they can charge Rs 4,000 for a ventilator bed in the ICU.
State health minister Raghu Sharma said private hospitals cannot be allowed to loot the people. He said the government has appointed a nodal officer who will look into the complaints filed by patients against private hospitals.
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“We are not against private hospitals but they should understand their responsibility. They cannot extort money from patients. They will have to provide treatment on the rates fixed by the government or we will be forced to act against them,” said Sharma.
He said complaints received on the toll-free number would be investigated by the nodal officer and action will be taken against hospitals. He said the government was willing to talk to the private hospitals and address their concerns.
Representatives of private hospitals say they were not consulted before the government fixed the rates.
Dr Vijay Kapoor, secretary of the private hospitals and nursing homes society, said the rates fixed by the government are not financially and practically feasible. The society has around 400 private hospitals as members.
Dr Kapoor said there is much unrest among the members regarding the charges. “We would urge the government to rethink and revise the rates.”
Dr MN Thareja, president of Indian Medical Association, Rajasthan chapter, said private hospitals should be able to meet expenses such as salary and overheads incurred on the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
“Private hospitals don’t want to earn from Covid patients. We want to serve patients. But we should also be able to meet our expenses otherwise it is not viable for hospitals,” he said.
He said the expenses include salaries for doctors, nursing staff, class 4 employees and sweepers, along with the cost of the PPE kits, cost of food for staff on Covid duty, cost of transportation, cost of accommodation of the staff.
“The government provides Rs 2,440 daily to those in quarantine. We will also have to give that to our staff. Hospitals will also have to make separate wards, entrance, lobby, waiting rooms for Covid-19 patients,” said Dr Thareja.
He said depending on the city and the category of the hospital, the daily charges incurred would range between Rs 10,000 to Rs 35,000 for a Covid-19 patient.
Dr Kapoor added that the private sector hospitals are not being included in decision-making by the state government.
“The government is taking so many important decisions regarding Covid-19 but the private hospitals have never been consulted. On what basis have these rates been decided? They should have at least compared the rates in other states which are in the range of Rs 8,000 to Rs 14,000 per bed/per day and then make a decision,” he said.
“No representative from our society was invited for discussions even though the private sector provides up to 70 percent of healthcare services in the state,” he said. In Jaipur, the government hospitals have 7,500 beds while private hospitals account for 13,000 beds, he said.
