851 Covid patients fleeced of Rs 10 cr, pvt hospitals come under scanner

The local Youth Congress volunteers threatened to launch an indefinite hunger strike against private hospitals in MiraBhayandar for allegedly overcharging and fleecing Covid positive patients by denying them benefits under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojna (MJPJAY) – a state-funded health insurance scheme.

“We have gathered specific details of 851 patients who were fleeced of nearly Rs 10 crore for treatment by the MJPJAY-empanelled private hospitals,” Youth Congress leader, Deep Kakde said.

Maharashtra was the first state to offer 100 per cent free treatment for all Covid19 patients, even those treated in private hospitals. However, it is now being alleged that many hospitals took undue advantage of the flagship scheme for their own monetary benefits during the pandemic.

According to Kakde, the Youth Congress has demanded an immediate refund and penal action against the hospital management and all those (including officials) who are responsible for the financial fraud, failing which they will launch a hunger strike from April 11.

The Congress volunteers also met district collector Rajesh Narvekar and sought his intervention in the matter, so as to give justice to the citizens who had been duped by the rogue hospitals. “The collector has assured that he will soon form a high-level committee and probe the matter,” said Kakde, adding that patients don’t understand medical terminologies and the hospitals have taken advantage of their ignorance.

To put a cap on the costs of treatment of Covid-19 and other ailments, the scheme which was earlier restricted to limited beneficiaries, was extended to cover the entire population. Presently, there are more than 175 private hospitals in the MirBhayandar region, of which only five have empanelled themselves under the MJPJAY.