The state health department has issued an advisory saying patients admitted under the Swasthya Sathi scheme can be charged for an “unspecified package” only for accidental and emergency surgical cases.
The scheme has 1,900 packages and a patient can be admitted under any of these based on the nature of illness. The rate of each package is predetermined.
The department has said in the advisory that it has noticed that many “healthcare providers” are admitting patients under an unspecified package, especially for “medical management cases and for certain surgical cases which may be blocked under specified packages”.
Treatment under an unspecified package allows a hospital to charge more than the rates mentioned in the Swasthya Sathi scheme.
The advisory, issued on Monday, said that henceforth, treatment under unspecified packages “can be available only for unavoidable emergency accidental and surgical cases”.
Even for treatment under an unspecified package, the health department has fixed a ceiling. “Unspecified package may be allowed with a ceiling of medicine and diagnostic charges of Rs 5,000,” the advisory said.
Rupak Barua, president of the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India, said they would appeal to the health department to reconsider the decision on the ceiling.
“Suppose there is a patient who has met with an accident or suffered a stroke. It is impossible to say how many investigations the patient may need. Then there are medicines to be administered. It is unrealistic and impractical to think that all these can be done within Rs 5,000. Private hospitals offer quality treatment, which may be expensive,” he said.
“Regulation is good because that prevents hospitals from charging excessive amounts, but an unrealistic ceiling is going to hurt us.”
In a separate advisory, the health department has said the government would facilitate the issue of Swasthya Sathi cards for patients not enrolled on the scheme when they get admitted to a government hospital.