Flying squads to check if hospitals are overcharging

Amid the complaints of hospitals and ambulance operators overcharging the Covid-19 patients, the state government on Friday has set up flying squads to keep a check on the medical bills of hospitals and ambulance service charges across the state.

Maharashtra public health minister Rajesh Tope said that the state had issued directives to officials to act on complaints about hospitals and ambulances charging exorbitant rates. He said, “To check if the decisions are being implemented, flying squads have been set up”. In this connection, the public health department’s principal secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas has sent a letter to all divisional commissioners, district collectors and municipal commissioners and sought a report within next three days.

The government, by an order on May 21, had fixed upper limits for charges of private hospitals. The GR stated that the private hospitals are allowed to charge `4,000 per day for a general bed, `7,500 per day in the intensive care unit (ICU) and `9,000 per day in ICU with a ventilator. Another order, on June 30, fixed rates for private ambulances. But despite government orders, private hospitals are still charging exorbitant rates

Besides this, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana has been extended to all in view of the Covid-19 pandemic from May 23. The state also acquired 80 per cent beds of the private hospitals for Covid patients.

A senior official said that the flying squads will verify if the government decisions aimed at providing relief to Covid-19 patients are being implemented by hospitals. They will check, among other things, if private hospitals have displayed the government orders at their main gates, he said. There should be also a system to audit the final bills, he added.