Haryana hospitals will be audited after complaints of inflated bills
Taking cognizance of complaints that some private hospitals are fleecing COVID-19 patients, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Tuesday said a random audit will be conducted and strict action will be taken against hospitals found to be overcharging patients. His response came when Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, who is a BJP MLA from Panchkula, said he received multiple complaints in this regard.
Gupta is seeking cancellation of licenses of such hospitals
Gupta wrote a letter to the Chief Minister and the Health Minister, recommending the audit and the cancellation of licenses of hospitals found fleecing patients. He cited instances where private hospitals are charging exorbitant sums of money from those patients who are government employees, those covered under various insurance schemes as well as those who don't fall in these two categories.
Three times the price being charged for surgical items, medicines
The speaker said that he had formed a district-level committee after receiving complaints in the matter. In the case of one private hospital in Panchkula that had come to notice, Gupta said a COVID-19 patient was handed out a provisional bill of Rs. 7.59 lakh and the committee had found that surgical items and medicines were charged more than three times their price.
Inquiry revealed huge difference between provisional and final bill
When the matter was enquired by the committee at the above-mentioned hospital, a revised bill of Rs. 2.90 lakh was issued by the hospital authorities. They couldn't explain the huge difference between the provisional and final bill, said Gupta. Gupta further said that patients with insurance cover or those from the government sector, whose bills are reimbursed by the government, were given inflated bills.
Haryana's COVID-19 tally crosses seven lakh mark
In the last 24 hours, Haryana recorded 7,774 new COVID-19 positive cases taking the state's tally to 7,09,689. With a recovery rate of 88.33 percent, Haryana has seen 6,923 deaths to date while 6,26,852 have bounced back from the disease. India registered 4,529 fatalities from coronavirus yesterday making it the country's deadliest day yet. India's current COVID-19 tally stands at 2,54,96,330.
