Mumbai: Hosp charges COVID-19 patient over Rs 92k for 3-day treatment

In violation of norms a 72yearold COVID19 patient was charged Rs 2500 to Rs 5000 per day for oxygen during three days of hospitalisation by a private hospital in the western suburbs of MumbaiAs per a report in The Indian Express Borivlibased Apex hospital which was denied permission to treat COVID19 patients two months ago by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC over multiple complaints of overcharging charged a patient Rs 92620 for three days of hospitalisationWhen the patient had to be referred to KEM hospital her grandson a cable and internet operator had to assure free internet service to the hospital to facilitate the transfer ldquoWe did not have money they were clearly charging exorbitantly but there was no time to lose We urgently needed a transfer So I had to promise them free internet for a pending bill of Rs 37000rdquo said Arhaan ShaikhBhagyashree Kapse assistant commissioner in RCentral ward said an inquiry will be initiated against the hospital ldquoWe are receiving several complaints that the hospital is treating Covid patients despite our notice to stop Covid admissions In the past too we got complaints of overcharging The hospital does not inform us when it admits a coronavirus case it is against normsrdquo she saidIn the latest case Zohra Shaikh aged 72 was admitted on October 7 following a heart attack and breathlessness She was admitted to the intensive care unit By October 8 her reports came positive for COVID19 On October 9 she was referred to KEM hospital for further treatment By then she was on noninvasive ventilator support with oxygen saturation lower than 90The hospital charged Rs 92620 for three days of which Rs 5000 was charged per day for oxygen support of more than five litres per minute and Rs 2500 for oxygen support less than five litres per minuteIn its latest notification on August 31 the Maharashtra government clearly asked hospitals to refrain from charging separately for oxygen The bed cost of ICU or ventilator has to include oxygen charges ldquoWe calculated oxygen requirement per Covid patient in ICUs It does not cost the hospital more than Rs 300400 per patient per dayrdquo said Dr Sudhakar Shinde who drafted the price capping notificationApex hospital has however charged both components separately for ICU at Rs 4500 per day and for oxygen at Rs 25005000 per day It charged Rs 1000 for personal protective equipment per dayApex hospitalrsquos treating doctor Dinesh Sharma said the patient was admitted as a suspected case of Covid ldquoWe canrsquot admit Covid positive patients But we can treat suspected cases She was admitted in ICU with myocardial infarction and treated symptomaticallyrdquo he said Dr Jayesh Chaubey incharge of the hospital said he has to check the details of the case Dr Sangeeta Shah cofounder of Apex hospital said ldquoTheir bill is still pending We will look into the matterrdquoShaikhrsquos grandson Arhaan said the hospital was not ready to transfer her unless they paid entire amount ldquoShe was critical and we were losing time The hospital did not even help in finding us another hospital We were left on our ownrdquo he said The family took the help of some social workers who arranged for a bed in another hospital Shaikh passed away in KEM hospital at 235 am on Monday due to Covid complicationsBMCrsquos ward incharge Kapse said each hospital is supposed to report Covid patients to the local ward office ldquoApex has flouted several norms The biggest complaint is of overcharging patientsrdquo she saidSmaller nursing homes and private hospitals continue to charge for biomedical waste personal protective equipment and oxygen for COVID19 treatment making healthcare unaffordable despite a slew of measures to cap prices by the state governmentKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news