Apollo Hospitals gets notice for overpriced Covid-19 test

The National Health Mission in Karnataka, has issued a notice to Apollo Hospitals, Seshadripuram, for allegedly overcharging Covid-19 test, in violation of ICMR’s guidelines and governments’ order.

The hospital had charged Rs 4,500 for a Covid test and levied an extra Rs 1,500 for “sample handling”. The total amount of Rs 6,000 violates the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, and the Union health ministry’s order and circular issued by the state health department in March, capping the test price at Rs. 4,500.

Malini Aisola, co-convener of All India Drug Action Network, tweeted a bill dated June 25, which showed overcharging, in the wee hours of Monday.

On the same morning, DH sent a copy of the bill to the state health commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey and he promised to take action.

By evening, the director of the National Health Mission in Karnataka sent a notice to the hospital for violating the guidelines and sought an explanation in two days of the receipt of the notice.

“If no reply is received, action will be initiated as per the rules,” the notice said.

No testing facility

Meanwhile, Uday Davda, the unit head of Apollo Hospitals, Seshadripuram, told DH that the unit does not have a testing facility.

“We outsource our samples to Cancyte laboratory, who are charging us Rs 4,500. They’re not providing us facility for transportation of samples and covering our cost of PPE, which we have charged the patient as handling charges.” Davda said.

He said the health department has asked them not to charge that and the hospital will now on bear the handling charges.

“I have asked our billing team to cull out the data of all the patients, who have undergone Covid testing, and have asked to refund the patients. I have also spoken to the family of the patient whose bill this was. Henceforth, we will bear the handling charges,”
he said.

The hospital sent a statement to DH saying: “We have already initiated the refund process, and the rates have been revised as per government guidelines.”

Currently, for the samples sent by the government to the private laboratories, the price cap is Rs 2,250, which includes the cost of the screening test and the confirmatory test.