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Complaints continue to pour in: Despite warning, private hospitals fleece patients
While the Directorate of Medical Services has taken action against several private hospitals for overcharging COVID-19 patients in the State and licences of two hospitals have been revoked, many still continue to fleece patients and complaints continue to pour in. Senior officials from the Health Department said that 47 grievances on overcharging have been received and each is being investigated.
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Chennai
The Department had fixed specific charges for COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals stating that A1 and A2 category private hospitals should not collect more than Rs 7,500 a day, while A3 and A4 category private hospitals should not charge above Rs 5,000 per day. In case of treatment at ICUs, daily charges should not exceed Rs 15,000 in both categories, it had said.
But several hospitals flouted the capped pricing and have been overcharging on PPE kits, intensive care unit, daily room availability and others. Licences of two hospitals, designated to provide COVID treatment were revoked after multiple complaints were received from patients. Two more private hospitals are under the scanner, one each in Kanniyakumari and Madurai.
“Despite warnings, if the hospital does not comply with the guidelines, we inspect and take action based on a written complaint by the patients,” said a Health Department official. In many cases, patients have produced the bills to the authorities and asked for details. “There are patients who have received refund after we intervened,” said Director of Medical Services Dr Gurunathan.
He added that the Joint Director from the Directorate of Medical Services is keeping a check on the overcharging in every district. Based on this, a team of officials from the Directorate of Medical Services would conduct inspection and take action on the private hospitals accordingly,” said Dr Gurunathan.
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