Minister warns pvt hospitals against charging covid patients exorbitant fees

Telangana Health Minister E Rajender on Tuesday warned private hospitals over charging exorbitant fees from Covid patients, saying licence of one had already been cancelled and suitable action would be taken against others, based on receipt of reports.

Telangana Health Minister E Rajender on Tuesday warned private hospitals over charging exorbitant fees from Covid patients, saying licence of one had already been cancelled and suitable action would be taken against others, based on receipt of reports. The government had told the managements of private labs and hospitals not to look at the present situation from a business perspective, but to extend a helping hand to people, he told reporters.

However many complaints had been received of hospitals charging a huge amount, ranging from Rs one lakh to Rs five lakh for services, he said. Some of these hospitals had not mended their ways even after the government warned them, he said.

The government had then appointed committees, which had held comprehensive enquiries into the complaints. "Reports of all hospitals are with us. We warned them to mend their ways.... Already, one hospital has been barred (from treating COVID-19 patients)," he said.

The government would take action against a few more private hospitals after reports are received, he said. To a query, he said the government's intention was not to close down such hospitals as the effort should be to make existing facilities available to people.

Health authorities on Monday cancelled the permission to a private hospital over complaints of charging exorbitant charges and non-adherence to government guidelines vis--vis ceiling on rates chargeable by private hospitals. The minister said there is no shortage of doctors, medicines and equipment in government hospitals and urged the people to make use of them.

He said over five lakh samples have already been tested so far and added that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has directed the health department to conduct as many tests as possible and make efforts to save patients lives through early identification. Rajender also said the CM has suggested setting up a plasma bank, towards which steps were being taken.

The minister said the five months of dealing with COVID- 19 had shown there was not much to fear and added that it was being proven in practice that the virus would not be fatal immediately after contracting it, he said. He urged people not to take symptoms like fever, cough and others lightly, but seek medical advice without delay to prevent complications.

The treatment is simple and is available even at Public Health Centres, including necessary medicines like HCQ and azithromycin, which do not cost much, he said..

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