How Can a Hospital Charge Rs 50,000 for a 49-Minute ICU Stay? Regulatory Commission Slams CMRI Hospital
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Kolkata: Holding that the billing was "inflated and unacceptable", a private hospital has been directed by the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) to refund the charges levied on a patient who spent only 49 minutes in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) before passing away.
As per the TOI report, the patient, who had been admitted to BM Birla Heart Research Hospital in December due to cardiac issues, later developed pneumonia. Pulmonologists from CMRI Hospital, located within the same medical complex, examined him and recommended his transfer to their facility. He was shifted to CMRI on December 30, 2024.
As per recent TOI report, the commission has now directed the hospital to refund a substantial portion of the bill to the patient’s family, ensuring that such exorbitant and unjustified billing practices are curbed. Banerjee criticized the hospital’s billing, stating;
“Even though he was in the ICU for less than an hour, the hospital ran up a bill of Rs 50,030. The hospital also charged Rs 11,875 as an emergency bill and Rs 1,800 for an ambulance to transfer the patient to CMRI, which happens to be inside the same campus. We have asked the hospital to retain Rs 20,000 and return the rest of the amount to the complainant.”
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