Hyderabad hospital charge Rs 2.2 lakh for PPE kit of corona patient

The government warning to private hospitals for charging excess bill on COVID-19 patients seems to have fallen on deaf ears as they continue to extract money from the patients in lakhs. In the latest, a hospital charged Rs 8 lakh bill for treating a coronavirus patient for eight days but failed to save his life.

The patient's family were shocked after the hospital authorities charged Rs 2.23 lakh for 246 PPE kits i.e, Rs 910 per kit. However, there is no response from the hospital management when the family questioned on using 246 PPE kits for a single patient. Despite charging Rs 1 lakh per day which is against the rate fixed by the government, the hospital failed to rescue the patient. The patient breathed his last on Friday morning at a private hospital in Banjara Hills.

The government has fixed the price for the coronavirus patients to avail the treatment at private hospitals. The prices were Rs 4,000 per day for treatment in the isolation ward, Rs 7,500 per day for treatment in ICU and Rs 9,000 per day for ventilator support. Although there are 2,341 vacant beds in private hospitals, the patients are being sent back due to non-availability of beds.

Meanwhile, three hospitals in Hyderabad have been found guilty for overcharging and harassing patients. The government conducted a detailed investigation against the hospitals after receiving several complaints from the people.