Govt-approved rate list pasted outside pvt hospitals in Jhajjar

QUOTE: Guilty to be punished

“Strict action will be taken against the hospital (s), if any, found charging more than the fixed rates. All private hospitals have been informed about the rates. I urge the public to lodge a complaint on the helpline if any hospital overcharges them.”

– Hitendra Sharma, bahadurgarh sdm

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, May 6

Taking a serious note of overcharging complaints, the district administration on Thursday pasted boards outside all private hospitals, mentioning government-approved rates to be charged for the treatment of Covid patients.

A toll-free helpline number, 1950, has also been mentioned on the board for lodging complaint against any hospital charging more than the prescribed rates.

Sources said though the state government had fixed the rates, some private hospitals were still charging more than prescribed amount from Covid patients, throwing the guidelines to the wind. It forced the administration to paste the approved rate list outside the hospitals.

The government has fixed the rates at Rs 10,000 for isolation beds in the NABH and JCI accredited hospitals, Rs 15,000 for ICU beds without ventilators and Rs 18,000 per day for ICU beds with ventilators. Similarly, in non-NABH accredited hospitals, the rates have been fixed at Rs 8,000 for isolation beds, Rs 13,000 for ICU beds without ventilators and Rs 15,000 per day for ICU beds with ventilators.

“Taking advantage of the prevailing situation, the private hospitals are still demanding hefty charges in advance before admitting Covid patients, who have no option except to pay the amount as the facilities are running out of beds following a rapid surge in the cases. The government should also fix the rate of advance payment,” said Mukesh Kumar, a social activist.

Meanwhile, Bahadurgarh SDM Hitendra Sharma said strict action would be taken against the hospital (s), if any, found charging more than the fixed rates.

“All private hospitals treating Covid patients have been informed about the rates. Even the rate list has also been pasted outside the main entrance of the hospitals so that patients and their attendants can also know about the government-approved rates,” said Sharma, who appealed to the public to lodge a complaint on the helpline if any hospital overcharges them.