Hyderabad: Private hospitals make hay as Covid cases on rise

Hyderabad: The Covid-19 is not dangerous that one needs to get treated in private hospitals. Patients recovered from the virus can fall into trauma after paying heavy bills of private hospitals. Despite a clear warning from the government, private hospitals are ignoring the orders and charging huge amounts for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

Private hospitals are charging more than Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 per day while the government has set a price cap on Covid-19 treatment. A patient undergoing treatment billed Rs 5 lakh for 10 days. The treatment is still on.

After an extreme surge in corona positive cases in Telangana, Health Minister Eatala Rajender interacted with a private medical college on Saturday. He instructed the managements not to collect hefty amounts from the patients and asked that the charges should be according to the GO issued by the government last year.

According to the GO, a package to be charged by the private hospitals cannot exceed Rs 4,000 per day for general wards (including isolation), Rs 7,500 for Intensive Care Units (ICU) without the ventilator and Rs 9,000 for ventilator support but some of the hospitals openly violating the rules.

Addressing a press conference on April 10, the minister has said that the government is providing oxygen, ventilators and other facilities to private hospitals. They should charge according to the norms, he said.

On a request not to disclose his identity, an attendant in a private hospital at Attapur said, "I took my uncle to private hospitals at Attapur for quarantine as he was tested positive in RT-PCR but the management has declared his condition critical and forced to admit him and rushed into ICU while his situation was not that bad and he climbed to the first floor all by himself. He is still in ICU since April 2, and a bill of Rs 5.5 lakh for ten days was charged."

An attendant also claimed that there are no adequate nurses in the hospital to take care or monitor the patients. "Doctors are visiting patients once a day," he said. It is said that the wards allocated for the infected are not spacious; eight patients were accommodated in small rooms which is a clear violation of the guidelines. One more attendant who admitted his father said that "I suggest people be quarantined at home is a better choice as the hospital is too expensive.

The ventilator is being charged Rs 10,000 per day and many hidden charges are being collected. There is no transparency in billing in the hospital."

There are many complaints about hefty bills slapped by private hospitals coming to light. The Health Minister warned of strict action against these kinds of practices. The "extortion" of the hospital will continue until the government takes action against private hospitals looting common people.