Hyderabad: Covid bills go up, kin turn to crowdfunding

HYDERABAD: Mohammed Shakeel buried two of his family members in a span of one week. "My cousin Mustafa passed away last Wednesday after he contracted the coronavirus and his mother too died exactly a week later," he said. Their bill at a private hospital in Nampally: Rs 16 lakh.
Mustafa, a hawker selling clothes in Old City's bylanes, was just 34. His family had to sell their gold and use his meagre savings to meet medical expenses.But that was not enough. "I started a campaign on crowdfunding platform Milaap, but he passed away the next day," said Shakeel. Now Shakeel plans to appeal again for his cousin's three little kids. "They now have no father and no money," he said.
With private hospitals charging astronomical amounts for Covid-19 care, many patients and their family members have taken to crowdfunding to meet medical expenses. The amounts collected range from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.
Most crowdfunding pleas from poor families who recently lost their jobs
Adithya Srinivas G also started a campaign for a patient from Muthangi in the city. “A friend's father was being charged Rs 4.5 lakh for an eight-day stay after he tested positive,” he said. His friends decided to contribute whatever they could, but also crowdsourced for the central government employee who was not able to meet expenses on his salary. “We raised Rs 50,000 ourselves and another Rs 2 lakh through crowdfunding.”
Not surprisingly, most of the pleas come from poor and middle-class families. Some have lost their jobs recently. On Milaap, a plea for a patient reads: “He's currently out of work, the funds will be solely used for his extended hospitalization and support for his family.” The campaign raised Rs 1.22 lakh of a Rs 10 lakh target. A campaign for a journalist, who passed way, hoped to raise Rs15lakh for the family.
On Ketto, a Covid-19 patient has posted how no amount of money seems enough: “We have done all we can to collect the total amount required for the treatment but Rs 7 lakh more is required to pay for all the medical expenses. As the amount required is huge, I request you to kindly contribute towards my treatment and help me during this time of need.” As much as Rs 3.7 lakh was raised for him.
Multiple such requests have been made on social media as well. Activists blame unchecked private hospital billing for the distress of families.
“In one case that I came across, the family of a deceased Covid19 patient was denied his body by a private hospital for the non-settlement of hospital bills. The government may have capped treatment expenses in private hospitals but it should regulate all charges,” said Sai Teja, vice-president, Forum Against Corruption.
In Telangana, bed charges have been capped at private hospitals for Rs4,000 in normal wards and Rs7,500 in ICU without ventilator, Rs 9,000 with ventilator. But hospitals are allowed to collect additional charges for anti-viral drugs.