This story is from July 6, 2020

Telangana: Mounting bills add to misery of patients’ families

With coronavirus cases rising in the state, patients and their families are now facing another major problem — mounting hospital bills. Many have taken to social media citing instances of patients and even bodies of victims being detained by hospitals over non-payment of bills.
Telangana: Mounting bills add to misery of patients’ families
HYDERABAD: With coronavirus cases rising in the state, patients and their families are now facing another major problem — mounting hospital bills. Many have taken to social media citing instances of patients and even bodies of victims being detained by hospitals over non-payment of bills.
In one such instance, the family of a Covid-19 victim, Mohammad Abbas Ali, was told to pay over Rs 5 lakh to collect the body.
This, in addition to Rs 5.3 lakh which had been deposited earlier.
In a video shared on social media by the victim’s son, Mohammad Irfan Ali, said that his father was admitted to a corporate hospital in the city on June 19 after several government hospitals refused admission due to a lack of beds. Following admission, he tested positive for the virus.
“I paid Rs 5.30 lakh to the hospital while my father was undergoing treatment. I informed the hospital authorities that I don’t have any money left with me when the bill went up to Rs 7 lakh...My father died on July 4. We were shocked when the hospital authorities asked us to pay Rs 5.22 more for collecting the body,” said Irfan Ali.
In another case, a 47-year-old patient was forced to stay at a corporate hospital for four days despite recovering from Covid-19. The patient alleged that the hospital had refused to discharge him over a dispute with his insurance company regarding treatment costs. “I was charged Rs 4.21 lakh for treatment at this private hospital but they forced me to stay back after the insurance company approved the claim for only Rs 1.20 lakh,” he said.

The patient was discharged by the hospital authorities on Sunday morning after reaching out for help on social media but he now fears for two other members of his family who also tested positive for coronavirus and are presently under treatment in the same hospital.
Meanwhile, Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) leader and social worker Amjed Ullah Khan tweeted a copy of a bill of a 50-year-old resident of Talabkatta, who was charged close to Rs 10 lakh for her treatment.
Speaking to TOI, Indian Medial Association (IMA) Telangana secretary, Dr Sanjeev Singh Yadav said, “Since these are corporate hospitals where charges are more than government hospitals, it is important that attendees of patients keep track of costs every day. If they feel that this is something which they cannot afford, then they must apply to the CM relief fund or the PM relief fund to get assistance from the government or they should have insurance.”
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