Noida hospitals have given Rs 19L Covid refunds

NOIDA: Fourteen patients admitted for Covid treatment at private hospitals in the city, or their families, have over the past few weeks received refunds that collectively amount to Rs 19 lakh.
Though recommended by the complaints cell on overbilling set up by the government, it’s discounts through the panel’s intervention on humanitarian grounds that account for a bulk of the refunds.
Established on May 7, the complaint cell has wrapped up all investigations. Overall, it dealt with 74 complaints, of which 30 were found actionable. The last one landed on its table on June 9.
Officials said since no major violation of norms was found, the committee refrained from recommending criminal proceedings against any of the hospitals. The 3-member committee was headed by Dr Anil Gupta.
The minimum refund was Rs 3,500 and the maximum Rs 3.6 lakh. Of the 14 people who got refunds, eight were in cases of overbilling in which a total of Rs 6.5 lakh was returned. The others got waivers amounting to Rs 12.5 lakh.
The highest — Rs 3.6 lakh — was given to a family from Dadri that lost its sole earning member.
The committee’s chief told TOI private hospitals in Noida and Greater Noida had largely followed the rules laid down for Covid treatment on charges and it was found that cost of treatment exceeded the recommended limit in cases where individuals were found to be suffering from other complications or conditions besides Covid-19.
Other than overbilling, other complaints the panel received related to denial of admission, negligence or lack of professionalism, non-availability of health bulletins or lack of communication, theft, unhygienic conditions and poor food quality. In its probes into overbilling, the committee summoned records from the patient as well as the hospital. “On examining the documents, we did not come across glaring anomalies. In some cases where slight deviation was observed, the hospitals were asked to revise the bill amounts. We have issued warnings to seven hospitals and ask-ed them to be careful over the past one month,” said Dr Gupta.
DP Singh, who paid Rs 2.15 lakh to a private hospital in Greater Noida where his brother was being treated last month, was among those to get a refund after the panel found merit in his complaint of being overbilled. “His condition had deteriorated and we took him to the ICU. The bill amount was brought down by 15%. I had pointed out in my complaint that hefty amounts were charged for personal protection kits, doctor visits, D-dimer test, etc. The medicine cost amounted to Rs 1 lakh and an additional Rs 60,000 was sought for providing oxygen,” said Singh, adding his brother was discharged after nine days in hospital but passed away at home.
Sushil Chauhan was handed a Rs 9 lakh bill by a hospital in Greater Noida. “The patient was admitted for a long duration and I approached the committee with a request to get the bill amount revised. I will not call it a complaint as such. I wanted clarity if the bill was calculated as per treatment protocols. The hospital offered a discount of Rs 1.5 lakh soon after that,” said Chauhan.
Treatment cost has been capped in three categories — moderate sickness (isolation beds with oxygen support), severe sickness (ICU care without ventilator) and very severe sickness (ICU with both invasive or non-invasive ventilator care). Daily charges, including the PPE cost, have been fixed at Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000, respectively.
Broadly, the daily cost covers bed charges, meals, monitoring, imaging, regular tests, visit charges and nursing care. For comorbid patients, hemodialysis also has to be provided within the same cost.
A committee member said the overall treatment line and health condition of the patient was examined while investigating complaints. “Oxygen charges were levied in an arbitrary manner and all hospitals have been warned against doing that. Specified protocol covers investigations such as X-ray and regular tests such as complete blood count, liver function test, and kidney function test, among others. Specialised tests such as D-dimer, IL-6, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, LDH and HRCT scan are not covered. Additional charges have been taken when patients developed other complications. Additional visit charges have to be paid in instances where cardiologists, pulmonologists, oncologists have to be called for guidance. People feel these charges are also covered under the protocol,” said the panel member.