NEW DELHI: To curb overcharging by private hospitals treating COVID-19 cases, a central government committee has recommended a cap on charges levied by private hospitals in Delhi, in effect suggesting treatment charges be slashed to about one-third of the current treatment charge.
If the Delhi government accepts the recommendations, the new pricing will be implemented for 60% of beds meant for COVID-19 patients in private hospitals, as announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah five days ago.
Though the final order will be issued by the Delhi government, sources in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said that the Delhi government is likely to accept the recommendation made by the high-powered committee constituted by the central government.
The panel has recommended Rs 8000-10000, 13000-15000 and 15000-18000 including PPE costs for isolation bed, ICUs without and with ventilator respectively as against the current charges of Rs 24000-25000, 34000-43000 and 44000-54000 for the same categories of treatment.
The prices suggested by the committee, under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog member VK Paul, are inclusive of the cost of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits whereas the current charges do not include the PPE cost.
Proposed new rate list for Covid-19 treatment in Delhi’s private hospitals
“To provide relief to the common man in Delhi, HM @AmitShah constituted a committee under Member of @NITIAayog to fix rates charged by Pvt hospitals in Delhi for isolation beds, ICUs without ventilator support & ICUs with ventilator support (sic),” the MHA spokesperson tweeted on Friday.
On June 14, after meeting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and L-G Anil Baijal, Shah had announced a slew of measures to improve the COVID-19 situation in the national capital and among the announcements he made was the decision that private hospitals will have to reserve 60 percent of Covid-19 beds for subsidised treatment.
Shah had also announced that a comprehensive health survey of every person would be conducted in the containment zones of the national capital to check the spread of coronavirus. In a series of tweets that the MHA spokesperson put out on Friday, it was also announced that house-to-house health survey in 242 containment zones of Delhi was completed by authorities on Thursday and 2.3 lakh people were surveyed in total.
“As per the directions given by Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, in a series of meetings chaired by him over last few days in regard to COVID-19 situation in Delhi, house to house health survey in 242 containment zones of Delhi completed yesterday. A total of 2.3 lakh people were surveyed,” the spokesperson said.
In an official statement, the ministry said that Shah has been personally monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Delhi, on the advice of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
7040 people have been tested in Delhi via rapid antigen testing methodology that was started on Thursday, the ministry further said. Besides sharing the status of rapid antigen testing in Delhi, the spokesperson also said that after Shah’s intervention, sample testing has been doubled in Delhi and testing will continue with increased numbers in coming days. A total of 27,263 testing samples have been collected in Delhi from June 15 to June 17 against the earlier daily collection which varied between 4,000-4,500, the spokesperson said.