Karnataka hospitals reimburse over 400 for illegal bills during Covid

As many as 97 hospitals in Karnataka are collectively reimbursing Rs 2.08 crore to patients they had illegally charged for Covid treatment, after the intervention of the health department.

Across the state, 419 people are getting reimbursed. Department officials say the numbers will increase further as they’ve just started action on the second batch of complaints.

During Covid, the government had ordered private hospitals to set aside half their beds for patients referred from its centralised bed allotment system (for example, people with BU numbers in Bengaluru).

These patients were to get free treatment as per the government’s June 2020 order since hospitals would be reimbursed by the government’s SAST (Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust).

But soon, the health department started getting complaints from patients whom hospitals had charged.

That is, hospitals claimed reimbursement from the government, but also charged patients simultaneously.

Health officials say over half of these hospitals are based in Bengaluru, mostly corporate ones.

The wife of a Covid patient said on condition of anonymity: “My husband passed away during Covid treatment at a big Bengaluru hospital in 2020. I was charged Rs 1.5 lakh, mainly for medicines. It was only a few months later that I came to know that treatment was supposed to be free. I sent a letter to the health department and they followed up on it.”

After a hearing at the health department head office, the hospital refunded her the entire amount in January. 

While some patients filed complaints, many others were identified by SAST during their calls to collect feedback on hospitalisation.

According to data from the chief vigilance officer (CVO) of SAST, they have got complaints against 30% of the private hospitals that had been enlisted for Covid treatment in the state.

The total number of complaints is 2,701, including a few against government hospitals.

Of these, SAST took up 1,709 complaints in the first batch and resolved them.

“We first sent a notice to hospitals. A few hospitals then refunded the amount to patients directly. But many others gave vague replies that they had provided extra treatment or medicines. If they didn’t make refunds, we called them and the patient for a hearing, passed a resolution and sent a memorandum to the hospital. Most hospitals oblige. If they don’t, we take action against them as per the KPME Act and Disaster Management Act,” officials at the CVO’s team said.

SAST is making refunds out of the reimbursement amounts it has withheld from the hospitals that face complaints.

Health commissioner D Randeep said hospitals were not being named now since they first need an opportunity to appear for hearings. Deccan Herald