Karnataka govt caps Covid-19 treatment charges in private hospitals

The state has also directed private hospitals with facilities to treat Covid patients to reserve 50% of beds, including ICU beds with ventilators, for treatment of those referred by health authorities

In order to curb the practice of overcharging for Covid-19 treatment, the Karnataka government has capped the prices of beds, ICUs and ventilators at private hospitals to make charges uniform across the state.

The government has also directed private hospitals having facilities to treat Covid patients to reserve 50 per cent of the beds, including ICU beds with ventilators, for treatment of those referred by public health authorities.

"The hospitals may utilise the remaining 50 per cent of Covid-19 beds for admitting patients privately,” says a notification by the state.

The package rates for Covid-19 patients referred by public health authorities to private hospitals are almost half payable by those getting admitted directly to these hospitals. A critical patient admitted to a private hospital’s ICU with a ventilator will have to pay Rs 10,000 if recommended by a public health authority. However, a patient who gets direct admission will have to shell out Rs 25,000 for the same package. For  a general ward, patients getting directly admitted will have to pay Rs 10,000 while those with health authority references will be charged Rs 5,200.

Karnataka is also the first state to have fixed the price for Covid-19 tests at Rs 2,250 for samples sent by the government. 

“When Covid-19 testing was initially started by private labs, the rates were uniform. Subsequently, there were reductions in some states. If uniformity is brought about in that too, ensuring that the prices are once again the same across, that would be helpful,” said Dilip Jose, Managing Director and CEO at Manipal Hospitals.

So far, Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have also capped private hospital charges for Covid-19 treatment. Maharashtra government has also taken control of 80 per cent beds in private hospitals while Delhi government has directed private hospitals and nursing homes with 50 beds or more to reserve 20 per cent of their total capacity for Covid-19 patients.