Karnataka: 14 hospitals directed to refund Rs 81 lakh overcharged from patients

The authorities have so far received 44 complaints. Out of these, 23 cases alone dealt with patients who got infected with COVID during the second wave while and 27 complaints mentioned cases of excessive billing. Among these overcharging cases only three were connected with Non-COVID cases, reports Times of India.

Most of the complaints have been lodged under provisions of the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act and authorities have already done the needful and resolved the cases. Officials also mentioned that in some cases the hospitals were not found guilty. However, the information regarding the number of cases which got resolved in favor of patients are yet to be known.

Other than overbilling, there were also complaints that mentioned instances where patients got admitted to private hospitals under government quota and 81 such cases have been registered across the state. J Manjunath, deputy commissioner, Bengaluru Urban district held a meeting to discuss the complaints and found that in some of the complaints, the complainants alleged that they were being charged more than what the government had allowed, reports the daily.

He told TOI, "In some cases, complainants said due care was not taken". He further added, "In a couple of cases, the patients' families had issues with information dissemination from the hospital on the patient's health. In some cases, the complainants questioned the delay in handing over bodies to relatives."

The committee also arranged meetings with the private hospitals to hear their explanation regarding the complaints before taking any further action about the matter. Manjunath also confirmed that the hospitals have agreed to initiate refund in such cases where the hospitals charged more than the price cap determined by the government.

As far as the complaints pertaining to patients with non-Covid issues in government hospitals are concerned, the officials mentioned a case where the patient alleged that they were directed to purchase medicines from outside although free drugs were supposed to be delivered by the hospital as it gets supply of drug from the government. "Hospital authorities were questioned, and they have reimbursed the cost incurred by patients," said Dr Srinivasa SG, district health officer, Bengaluru Urban. However, officials confirmed that the number of such cases are less is comparison to the complaints filled by COVID patients who sought treatment n the hospitals.

According to the daily, in one case, a 60-year-old Covid patient received treatment for 50 days in a facility. While for the first 23 days, he stayed in COVID ward, for 27 days he was kept in the Non-COVID ward. The patient's family claimed that the hospital charged them more than what is prescribed by the government and delivered them bill of Rs 3.5 lakh for the treatment. The committee considered the complaint and gave verdict in favour of the patient's family. In another case, the committee directed a private hospital to pay back Rs 5 lakh to a complainant.

However, on the other hand, in some cases the hospitals were rightful in their action. Giving an example, Manjunath mentioned a case where one patient underwent treatment for 203 days. "He was billed Rs 52 lakh. The man had insurance which covered a portion of the bill and the family paid Rs 8 lakh. The hospital in fact, waived the remaining Rs 41 lakh," said Manjunath.

Dr HM Prasanna, president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) told the daily that he also supports any action against hospitals if they found to be guilty of over charging or any other deficiency. "We don't stand with hospitals that violate government norms. Hospitals must stick to price caps when billing Covid patients. We had issued an advisory on this."