Pvt hospitals refuse cashless treatment
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com
Chennai:25.05.2021
Several private hospitals in Tamil Nadu don’t accept Covid-19 patients opting for cashless treatment, complain card holders under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS).
Instead, they are admitted on condition that they reimburse the amount from insurers after discharge. This reimbursement amount is no way near the total claim presented, they say.
S A Vetrirajan, a retired commercial taxes department official, said a private hospital in Perambur denied admission to his 65-year-old ex-colleague claiming he was not empanelled under CMCHIS. But official documents suggested he was empanelled 10 years ago. They initially made him pay ₹1 lakh and only after pressure from various quarters allowed the expenditure to be covered under government insurance.
V Devan, vice-president of TN Retired Officials Association, said private hospitals rejecting CMCHIS card holders existed even in pre-Covid times.
The government recently fixed tariff for Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals, with ₹35,000 the daily rate for treating a patient in ICU on ventilator-supported beds. “But almost all major hospitals in Chennai charge at least ₹70,000 a day for this. Even after paying monthly premiums all our lives, we end up paying money from our own pockets to settle hospital bills,” said Devan.
Devan with help from Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association (TNEGA) tried to help a friend who paid ₹1.2 lakh to an Alwarpet hospital despite being eligible for a health cover of up to ₹4 lakh under CMCHIS.
Health minister Ma Subramanian said 890 private hospitals have been authorised to provide treatment for Covid patients under CMCHIS and treatment rates released. “If any hospital violates this, action will be initiated (under Clinical Establishment Act) through appropriate enforcement agency (Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Service.”
CMCHIS is meant for government employees and pensioners whose annual family income is less than ₹72,000.
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