Chhattisgarh fixes cost for Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals

The Chhattisgarh government has fixed the cost of Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals in the wake of a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the state, an official said on Sunday.

Patients will have to bear the cost of treatment in the private hospitals, which have been classified in A, B and C categories in various districts, based on the medical facilities available there, he said.

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The order was issued on Saturday under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897, the Chhattisgarh Public Health Act, 1949, and the Chhattisgarh Epidemic Diseases Covid-19 Regulations, 2020, the public relations department official said.

Hospitals in major districts like Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur, Korba and Raigarh have been listed in 'A' category, while those in Surguja, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Kanker, Janjgir-Champa, Balodabazar-Bhatapara, Kabirdham and Bastar districts are in 'B' category.

Hospitals in remaining 14 districts of the state have been placed in 'C' category, he said.

The 'A' category hospitals accredited by the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals (NABH) can charge Rs 6,200 per day from moderately sick patients, Rs 12,000 per day for severely ill patients and Rs 17,000 per day for very severely ill patients, the official said.

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The non-NABH accredited hospitals can charge Rs 6,200, Rs 10,000 and Rs 14,000 from moderate, severe and very severely ill patients, respectively, he said.

Hospitals in the 'B' category can charge 80 per cent of the rate fixed for three categories of patients in the 'A' category hospitals, while hospitals in the 'C' category can charge 60 per cent of it, he said.

Violation of the order will attract punishment, the official said.

The state government has also decided to provide online medical consultancy to Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and are undergoing treatment at home, at Rs 250 per day for 10 days, he said.

"The decision has been taken as asymptomatic patients wanted to undergo treatment in home isolation," he said.

The Covid-19 cases have been steadily rising in the state and the number is likely to go up further in near future, the official said.

Till Saturday, the state reported 43,163 Covid-19 cases and 356 deaths due to the disease.

As of now, there are 22,320 active Covid-19 cases in the state while 20,487 people have recovered from the disease.