DYFI demands action against exorbitant fee collection

DYFI, on behalf of the patients, urged the government to set up a committee in order to prevent private hospitals from collecting an exorbitant fee from Covid-19 patients.

DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla said they were receiving many complaints daily from people against private hospitals charging lakhs of rupees for treating the Covid infection and other diseases.

He accused the private hospitals of ignoring guidelines related to pricing of treatment.

Many hospitals fail to admit patients with Ayushman Bharath cards by citing lack of beds, he said.

The government has announced free treatment for the poor who test positive to Covid-19, but, there is no mechanism to address the woes of the poor, he lamented.

He said Remdesivir injection was administered even for those with mild symptoms of Covid-19 in private hospitals. A course of six injections costs the patients more than Rs 30,000.

Fearing a heavy bill, many people with Covid-19 symptoms are not wishing to go to hospitals for treatment.

He appealed to the deputy commissioner to order a probe into the exorbitant fee collected by private hospitals.

The price cap fixed by the government to treat the Covid infected is also expensive, which the poor cannot afford, he added.