Kochi:
Days after the Kerala High Court expressed concern over the high fees levied by private hospitals on COVID-19 patients, the State government said on Monday it has put a cap on the charges and introduced a universal pricing system for its treatment.
The state government said this in the Court when it considered a plea alleging that private hospitals and testing centres were charging high bills to ''exploit the pandemic situation and fear of people in the society.''
The Kerala High Court on Monday heard a plea moved against the exorbitant charges being charged by the private hospitals for the COVID-19 treatment in the state and ordered them to follow the capped price issued by the Kerala government for the treatment of coronavirus patients. A Bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Kauser Edappagth noted that PPE kits are priced at Rs. 22,000 and even Kanji (rice porridge) is being given at Rs. 1,300.
"We found unconscionable billings, Rs 22,000 for PPE kits. Look at the bills. We saw our humble Kanji is charged at Rs. 1300. Dolo is charged at Rs. 30-40," the bench said. Court further said, "Imagine the plight of a citizen who earns Rs 1000 and sees a bill of 2-3 lakhs. We are seeing infections rising rapidly. This is not an isolated case. Anyone can catch the infection now. You are looting people. Think about it, we have to intervene now."
The remarks were made after the private hospitals opposed a government decision to cap the price for treatment of COVID-19 at private hospitals. During the hearing, the State counsel informed the Court that the state government has issued an order in this regard.
"As per the government's order, the price for general ward would be Rs 2,645, including registration, bed, nursing and boarding, blood transfusion, oxygen, X-ray, consultation and diagnosis," the State counsel said.
"Expenses for costly medicines like Remdesivir will be separate while the rate for RT-PCR test would remain at Rs 500 as fixed by the state government earlier. A penalty of ten times the rate will be imposed in case of overcharging," the counsel pointed out.
The bench appreciated the state government and said, "We are happy that the government has come with our order. We will let the government order operate. Let us see how it goes." The court also noted that similar orders have been issued by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
"Because of the pandemic, you are having 100 per cent occupancy. Normally it is on 50-60 per cent. Learn to average your costs. All bills raised after order, henceforth, will be governed by the order issued by the state government. Any admission and bills prior to this bill will be governed by the then rates," the Court added.
The petitioner, a lawyer, had sought directions from the court to take remedial measures to regularise the high charges imposed by private hospitals for COVID-19 treatment.
On Monday, the government counsel informed the court that it has decided to put a ceiling on prices to be charged by private hospitals for COVID-19 treatment.
The counsel said government has issued an order on Monday in this regard.
''There shall not be exorbitant pricing of Covid related consumables like PPE, pulse oximeter, masks, portable Oxygen cylinders and consumables else, action shall be initiated by the District Collector against the concerned ,under relevant provisions of the law.No shops or hospitals shall charge more than MRP, for these items,'' the government said in the order.
Noting that COVID bed occupancy in hospitals are reaching saturation in many districts in both government and private hospitals, the government said it has also decided to set apart 50 per cent of the beds in government, private (including private medical colleges), cooperative and ESI Hospitals exclusively for the treatment of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalisation.
Approving the decision, the high court said the Government Order (GO) dated May 10, 2021 shall be implemented by the government and all stakeholders and any admissions after this order will be governed by the rates.
''All private hospitals would be bound to offer treatment strictly as per GO and any violation will be strictly dealt with, a division bench, comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and Kauser Edappagth, said.
The court said it was more than pleased with the GO.
In an interim order, the High Court had directed the state to arrive at treatment package rate for private hospitals for walk-in Covid-19 patients before the next sitting.
The government said multiple rounds of discussions were held with private hospital associations by the principal secretary, health, state health agency and director of health services.
Based on the discussions, the rates to be charged by the private hospitals for treatment of COVID-19 were recommended.
The government said charges for various treatments, consumables, medicines, doctors and nursing should be made known to the public and will be monitored by the secretary Clinical Establishment Act.
''If any hospital is found to be charging more than the rates… they shall be levied a penalty which shall be ten times the additional charges by the concerned DMO(H),'' it said.
Last week, the high court had directed the state government to take steps to introduce a uniform tariff rate for COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals.
Expressing concern over the high treatment charges in private hospitals, the court had emphasised the need for rationalising COVID-19 treatment tariff in such facilities in the state