Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust recovers ₹1.26 crore from hospitals that charged extra from patients;
The Hindu
The amount has been refunded to 307 patients
The Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), which runs the State’s health insurance schemes, has recovered a whopping ₹1,26,36,833 from hospitals that charged excess from government-referred COVID-19 patients during all the three waves. The amount has been refunded to 307 patients and their families so far.
When the pandemic hit the State in March, 2020, the Health Department roped in private hospitals and fixed the tariff for private walk-in patients, realising that government hospitals cannot handle the rush of infected patients. It also made private hospitals allot a certain percentage of their beds for government-referred COVID-19 patients.
While treatment for the government-referred patients was free of cost under the State’s Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) scheme (with reimbursement from the government), the hospitals were supposed to charge according to the fixed tariff for private walk-in patients.
However, in several cases walk-in patients were charged in excess (over and above the fixed tariff) and many government-referred patients were billed while reimbursement was also claimed from the government.
A total of 2,39,736 patients were treated free of cost under AB-ArK scheme during the three waves.
The SAST received complaints from 2,701 patients about such malpractices. On verification by the SAST, it was found a total of 316 hospitals (272 private and 44 government) were involved in instances of excess billing.
While 921 cases were referred to district grievance redressal committees and 138 to the BBMP for further action, the SAST conducted a hearing for 731 cases involving 100 private hospitals, according to data from SAST.