Pune: Payment delays to hospitals led to ‘artificial bed crunch’

As a result, most private hospitals in Pune had scores of non-Covid patients admitted when cases started rising again.
“The PMC wants us to start reserving beds again for Covid patients. But where should we send the non-Covid patients who are already occupying beds? We have stopped non-Covid admissions. As for payment of bills, we have received only 50% of what we are owed so far,” said Bomi Bhote, president of the Association of Hospitals in Pune.

The dues arise from the 80:20 rule the state had imposed on private hospitals. Facilities were told to reserve 80% of their beds for Covid patients. The reserved beds also came with caps on treatment fees, with hospitals promised reimbursements from local governments.

Rubal Agarwal, additional commissioner of the PMC said, “We have issued an order of 80:20 bed reservation across 23 private hospitals in Pune civic limits. These 23 facilities will have to make sure 80% of their beds are available for Covid treatment only.”

Jitendra Oswal, deputy medical director, Bharati hospital said, “After Covid cases started dropping mid-September, private hospitals in Pune slowly started converting Covid beds into non-Covid beds for pending elective surgeries and other illnesses. When cases started rising again in March this year, most hospitals’ beds were full with non-Covid patients. So there has been a delay in reserving more beds for Covid patients.” Oswal added, “Delays in payments of Covid patients’ bills and lack of clarity on who will settle these bills surely are reasons why private hospitals are going slow on bringing more beds under Covid care.”

Medical expert H K Sale, of Noble hospital, said, “The state government has capped Covid treatment charges. But the state and PMC should release payments for these bills every month so that we can pay our staff on time. How can people work without pay? This is the time for everyone to help each other.” Times Of India