COVID-19: Worried Telangana cracks down on fleecing private hospitals

Hyderabad: In the face of rapidly spreading infection from coronavirus, Telangana Government has come up with a multi-pronged strategy. On the one hand, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to conduct massive random testing in the badly-affected districts, including state capital Hyderabad, covering about 50,000 people over the next ten days. On the other hand, the government has also cracked down on private hospitals and clinics that are fleecing patients.

These measures were ordered at a time when the total number of cases in the state have crossed 5,000 as more positive cases were reported on Monday. On Sunday, the state recorded the highest-ever number of positive cases of 237 on a single day and three more deaths, fuelling fear of a community transmission.

State Health Minister E. Rajinder on Monday announced that the charge for conducting tests for coronavirus at private laboratories were bring reduced by almost half. The state government has fixed the charge for conducting tests at private labs at Rs 2,200. In the wake of reports that some private hospitals were charging coronavirus patients exorbitantly and the cost of treatment in some cases had touched a whopping Rs100,000 (Dh4,911) a day, the government decided to put a leash on private hospitals.

Henceforth, private hospitals can charge only Rs4,000 per day for normal isolation, Rs7,500 per day for treatment of coronavirus patients without ventilator support and Rs9,000 per day for treatment with ventilator, the health minister clarified. He warned that hospitals that violate these new guidelines and charge more will face stringent action, including cancellation of licences.

He pointed out that the government was providing free treatment to the coronavirus patients at state-run hospitals. “People who want to receive paid treatment can go to the private hospitals”, he added.

On the issue of more extensive testing, the minister said that the state government had granted permission to private labs to conduct these tests. “The state has the capability to test 7,500 samples per day,” the minister said. He clarified that tests would be conducted only on symptomatic patients. “No tests will be done for people without symptoms”, he added.

Rajinder also ruled out the possibility of re-imposition of lockdown in the state.

The decision to ramp up testing came as the state government came under fire from various quarters, including the Opposition parties, for not conducting enough tests.

With the average daily number of positive cases of COVID-19 touching 200 in the state, the government was forced to conduct more tests.

Chief Minister Rao has ordered officials to conduct 50,000 tests over the next ten days in 30 Assembly constituencies across six districts — including Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Viqarabad, Medchal and Sangareddy. These districts have recorded the maximum number of coronavirus cases in the recent weeks. Rao told a review meeting of officials that patients without serious symptoms should be quarantined at home.

The decision to allow private hospitals to treat patients was taken in view of the ever-increasing burden on government hospitals and protests from doctors.

The government has come under attack from the Opposition Congress party for not keeping its promise of providing treatment to all coronavirus-infected patients. Congress MP A. Revanth Reddy alleged that contrary to the grandiose announcement that the Sports Village in Gachibowli area had been converted into a 1,500-bed super speciality hospital, there was neither any hospital staff nor any patient visible at the said facility.

The government had announced on April 19 that the Sports Village was being turned into Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS), but after visiting the facility, the MP said that there only four security guards on duty at the building and not a single patient or doctor could be seen.

Meanwhile, in a fresh surge in the number of cases, two members of the state’s Legislative Assembly, belonging to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), have tested positive. MLA from Nizamabad, Bajireddy Govardhan, was rushed to Hyderabad from his constituency for treatment after he tested positive. Earlier, M. Yadigir Reddy, the MLA from Jangaon, also tested positive and was admitted to hospital. As Govardhan had spent time with the Jangaon MLA, he got himself tested and was found to be positive.