After several rebukes by the Telangana High Court, the state Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department on Wednesday issued a fresh Government Order (GO) fixing the ceiling for rates chargeable by private hospitals and private laboratories for investigations and other services pertaining to COVID-19. While no change has been made to the earlier price ceiling announced in June last year, the new GO has fixed the price of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, High-Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) test, Interleukin-6 test, C-Reactive Protein (CRP) test, Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) test and other tests.
According to the GO, PPE kits should not be priced beyond Rs 273 each; HRCT test is fixed at Rs 1,995; Interleukin-6 test at Rs 1,300; Digital X Ray at Rs 300; CRP test at Rs 500; Procalcitonin at Rs 1,400; Ferritin test at Rs 400; and LDH test at Rs 140. The services of ambulances are also capped. As per the GO, the minimum charge for an ambulance with basic life support system should be Rs 2,000 (per kilometer be charged Rs 75).
Charges for treatment in routine ward has been fixed at Rs 4,000 per day (including monitoring and investigations like complete blood count (CBC), urine routine, HIV spot, Anti HCV, ultrasound, 2D echocardiography test, XRay, electrocardiogram, drugs, consultations, bed charges, meals, procedures like Ryles Tube insertion, urinary tract catheterization); charges for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) without ventilator has been fixed at Rs 7,500 per day; charges for ICU with ventilator has been fixed at Rs 9,000.
The GO read, “All private hospitals shall strictly follow the treatment guidelines issued from time to time by Government of India / State Government, strictly. The hospitals shall refrain from experimental treatment. Unnecessary investigations, repeated HRCTs and inflammatory markers are to be avoided. Admissions and discharge protocols shall be followed scrupulously. Warning of action against violators, the GO said, “All hospitals are directed to strictly comply with the above orders. Non-compliance shall attract action as per the provision of the law.”
The government had earlier found that several private hospitals were overcharging patients violating the GO, following which the permission for 22 hospitals to treat COVID-19 cases were revoked.