State Govt regulates COVID-19 treatment cost at pvt hospitals

Bengaluru: In a bid to regulate the Covid19 treatment costs at private hospitals, Karnataka government on Tuesday announced two sets of package rates for patients: those who are referred by public health facilities and those who approach private hospitals directly.

A notification in this regard was issued by Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Tuesday.

According to the notification, 50% of the beds in private hospitals having facilities to treat Covid-19 patients shall be reserved for the treatment of patients referred by public health authorities. This will include the high-dependency unit and ICU (intensive care unit) beds both with and without ventilators. The hospitals may utilise the remaining 50% of Covid beds for admitting Covid-19 patients privately.

The package rates for COVID-19 patients referred by the public health authorities shall be as Rs 5,200 for general ward, Rs 7000 for High Dependency Unit, Rs 8,500 for isolation ICU without ventilator and Rs 10,000 for isolation ICU with ventilator.

The package ceiling rates for private COVID-19 patients, directly admitted by private health providers making cash payment (non-insurance) will be Rs 10,000 for general ward, Rs 12,000 for High Dependency Unit, Rs 15,000 for Isolation ICU with ventilator and Rs 25,000 for Isolation ICU with ventilator.

These rates will not be applicable for the patients subscribing to insurance packages.

The package rate ceilings for private patients are for general wards/multi-sharing wards. An additional 10 percent extra will be charged for twin sharing wards, 25 percent for single room and there will be no ceiling for suites.

In case of unforeseen complications, surgeries, co-morbid conditions, pregnancy, additional packages under Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka will apply.

All COVID-19 patients including those belonging to BPL, APL families, migrant workers, interstate returnees not possessing PDS card shall be considered eligible in view of the unprecedented pandemic. There should be no compromise in the quality of services