6. Covid-19 or not, you’ll pay more at hospitals
6. Covid-19 or not, you’ll pay more at hospitals
- The cost: Most private hospitals now consider every patient as a suspected Covid-19 case, which means doctors and nurses must take precautionary measures such as using personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gloves, face shield covers, etc. This has led to the cost of hospitalisation going up by a staggering 25-30%, reports TOI. The cost of one PPE alone is between Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,000 and hospitals say cost escalations are inevitable. Some nursing homes have hiked consultation fees for OPD patients too as the doctor wears PPE and gloves.
- The burden: A 69-year-old man, who was suspected for Covid-19, had to be in isolation for three days in a private hospital in Bengaluru in March until he tested negative. “The isolation ward charge per day was Rs 10,500 which is not fully covered by insurance. In the total bill there was a mention of 5 PPEs used, each priced at Rs 2,000. The PPEs were also not covered by the insurance policy,” said the patient’s son. The family had to pay Rs 1.4 lakh for six days of hospitalisation, including the isolation. The cost would have been minimum 30% less in pre-Covid times, the family says. In some cases, the daily “Covid-19 charge” exceeds the daily hospitalisation amount fixed by the insurers forcing patients to pay it.
- An excuse too: Another TOI report had highlighted how some private hospitals procure consumables like gloves and PPEs at a fraction of the maximum retail price but charge patients the MRP. It’s the same with medicines.
- Public vs private: A study by the Union ministry of statistics released earlier this year had said hospitalisation for any ailment in a private hospital costs six times more than the expense incurred in a government institution. The average hospitalisation expenditure per person in a government hospital is Rs 4,452 compared to Rs 31,845 at a private facility.
