GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday announced that he had issued instructions to fix the rates for COVID- 19 treatment in private hospitals.
“Affordable rates have been fixed for both general & super-speciality wards”, said the Chief Minister.
State Health Minister Keshab Mahanta notified the rates in a meeting. He informed that the price of a General COVID ward has been fixed at Rs4000 while charge for a private cabin in super-speciality hospital will cost Rs6500 and Rs 5000 in a general hospital.
ICU with ventilation will charge Rs15000 in a super-speciality hospital while in a supers peciality hospital it will Rs 12000. The ICUs with ventilation will cost Rs9000 in general hospital while in a super speciality hospital it will cost Rs10000.
There have reports of private hospitals fleecing people in the name of COVID-19 treatment across the state.
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In an investigative report carried out by InsideNE, it was revealed that private hospitals in Guwahati are charging Rs 4500 to nearly Rs 30,000 per day.
The report revealed that one renowned hospital in Guwahati is charging a whooping Rs26,000 for an isolation cabin per day, while the charge of the general ward is Rs22,000 per day excluding the medical charges. The hospital is also charging a admission fee of Rs 50,000 for COVID patients.
The report further revealed that the charge of a popular super-speciality hospital is Rs 10,500 per day. ICU charges without and with ventilator are Rs 22,000 and Rs 24,500 respectively.
Another hospital is charging Rs 4500 per day for a General COVID ward including the medical charges. ICU charges are Rs 12,000 per day and a delux room can be booked at Rs 8500 per day.
During the meeting, Sarma also directed officials to ramp up the vaccination process to inoculate maximum people at the earliest.
The Chief Minister took stock of COVID-19 management along with Health Minister Keshab Mahanta took stock of COVID-19 management in the state.
He further stated that COVID patients of any age group with any comorbidity will be kept in institutional quarantine to bring positivity and reduce mortality rates.