After receiving several reports of instances of hospitals charging exorbitant fees to treat COVID-19 patients, the State has issued a list for various treatments.
Hospitals that have an agreement with the General Insurance Public Sector have been prohibited from charging more than the rates fixed by the state health department while treating COVID-19 patients.
The notification stated, “Several hospitals have different third party administrators and hence their health care package rates for similar health conditions differ. In this case, the lowest package rate offered among all TPAs has to be followed by all. Also for healthcare equipment not covered under GIPSA Preferred Provider Network and TPAs hospitals cannot charge more than 10 per cent of the procurement cost of the equipment that includes N95 marks and PPE kits.”
A senior official said that the implementation of the notification will be effective immediately and should be followed until further orders. “It has been observed that the hospitals are charging differently and in some cases have even charged up to Rs. 1 lakh for one day of admission”, a senior officer said.