Refund excess fee taken for Covid care, Yavatmal hospital told

YAVATMAL: The district collector M Devendar Singh on Friday ordered the director of a local dedicated private hospital to refund the excess amount charged for providing Covid-19 treatment. This is the first case in the district when a private Covid-19 hospital has been ordered to refund the excess amount.
A woman was admitted to the hospital on October 13 after she developed symptoms of Covid-19.Her swab sample was collected and the woman tested positive for Covid-19.
The woman died at the hospital on October 16. The hospital allegedly charged a fee of Rs97,250 for the three-day treatment and allegedly did not release the body before taking the full payment from the family.
When the family pointed out the Central, state governments have fixed rates for Covid-19 treatment at private hospitals, the doctor allegedly refused to budge and collected the entire amount before releasing the body.
The family later lodged a complaint with the collector who conducted a hearing on Friday and recorded statements of both the sides. Deputy medical officer Manoj Tagadpalliwar, tehsildar Santosh Doifode and an officer of the Disaster Management Committee, Satish Moon, were also present during the hearing.
The director and the father of the complainant put forth their arguments. After hearing both the parties and perusal of documents on file, the collector found the hospital guilty of taking excess payment in violation of rates fixed for Covid treatment by the government.