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COVID treatment at the hospitals to become cheap but hospital bills to cost more
Posted on: 10/Jun/2021 9:26:08 AM
It is known that the TN government has taken a decision to cap prices of all essential medical items. This would bring down the treatment for Covid-19. This might look good but the issues of the patients might not end easily.
There is some fear among the activists that the hospitals might charge the patients more under different heads from now on. Till now, for Personal Protective Equipment or PPE (9 to 12 sets), ICU patients have been spending every day Rs 6000 nearly as in the normal circumstances PPE costs 30% to 50% of total treatment in the hospitals. From now onwards, with Rs 273 fixed as the maximum cost for PPE, the spending for such kits would reduce to Rs 2500 to Rs 3300 daily.
Mr. A.V. Ravikumar, state secretary, IMA that the move was welcome as long as the suppliers provided at lower rates. He hinted that products already purchased cannot be sold at a loss.
As per DR. T.N. Ravishankar, head of a private hospital in Tambaram, it was clear that taking into account the TN government cap the wholesale dealers must reduce the rates now. He added that it might take 7 days to 10 days to implement the decision as the present stock needs to be dispensed.
