With govt looking to cap COVID-19 charges, pvt hosps turn to other services for revenue

Gurugram: While private hospitals charging exorbitant rates for both COVID-19 and other ailments during the pandemic becoming a common feature across the country, the Gurugram District Administration (GDA) on Friday acknowledged that private hospitals, that form the bulk of healthcare facilities in the district, were charging unreasonably increased rates from patients.

Top officials of the GDA said that this has been the most common complaint that they have received from residents over the last few weeks and that they are already in the process to cap private COVID-19 treatment in the NCR city. This comes after adjoining Delhi dramatically reduced its testing rates and is also examining recommendations to cap private treatment rates for the contagious disease.

While the district administration is yet to come up with a time-frame for capping private treatment rates and regulating private healthcare, these hospitals are finding newer ways to make up for the loss in profits by dramatically increasing the charges for other healthcare services, which has now led to many non-COVID-19 patients expressing their anguish over the situation. Most of the patients have come out on public forums and alleged that they are made to shell out more as hospitals cite a shortage of beds.

While private hospitals jacking up non-COVID prices at such a time points to a cartelisation of the private healthcare sector, Millennium Post found that the starting price of occupying a normal bed starts from Rs 12,000 and can go up to as much as Rs 30,000 per day. Charges of doctor per visit start from Rs 1,500 and medicines are billed separately.

At the outset, the private hospital management demands Rs 2-3 lakh as a security deposit and charges only increase for patients who require life support. While charges for an ICU bed without a ventilator is Rs 55,000 per day, ICU beds with a ventilator are priced from Rs 80,000 per day.

Recently, there were reports that the shortage of beds was resulting in most private hospitals charging as much as Rs 4 lakh for delivering children. Earlier, deliveries were priced between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh in these hospitals. There are also allegations that most private hospitals have also increased the prices of non-COVID-19 tests so that they can earn more revenue.

Significantly, Gurugram has only one government hospital, with all other healthcare facilities being owned by private players. Moreover, out of the total 4,300 COVID-19 beds in the district, only 300 are in public hospitals. Moreover, most of the special health care services that include 166 ICUs, 333 ventilators and 146 dialysis machines are being provided by private hospitals, severely restricting healthcare access for the district's some 5 lakh rural population. Taking into account their strong influence, most residents have demanded government authorities to take over the big private hospitals. There are also demands for taking an undertaking from these hospitals to not deny treatment if the patient is unable to deposit the hefty security deposit.

Facing flak over the entire issue of COVID-19 and its containment, the Gurugram District Administration on Thursday also appointed nodal officers to make sure that patients do not face hurdles in getting healthcare at private hospitals.