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Representatives from some of the city’s biggest private and trust-run hospitals expressed their concern over the decision during a video conference with the CM on Saturday and sought his intervention in the matter.
“We told the CM that it will be extremely difficult for us to operate under these terms and that it was through cross-subsidising that we were offering treatment to the poor,” a senior official from one of Mumbai’s large hospitals said, asking not to be identified.
Representatives who participated in the video conference with the CM and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner Praveen Pardeshi were from Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital, PD Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre and Wockhardt Hospitals. The CM, according to the official, asked these hospitals to come up with a mechanism to ensure affordable care for patients.
The state government passed the order under the Disaster Management Act capping the rates that private and trust-run hospitals can charge for treatment and procedures and ensuring the availability of beds for patients. The decision was taken after reports alleging overcharging and hospitals denying treatment to patients in Mumbai and other parts of the state.
“The government has received a large number of grievances of exorbitant amount of money being charged by healthcare providers registered under this act (Bombay Nursing Home Registration Act), causing hardships to the public in general during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Pradeep Vyas, the state health secretary, said in the order.
The financial performance of private hospitals has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with stalled elective surgeries and a drop in non-Covid-19 treatments. According to rating company ICRA, occupancy at large private hospitals has dropped to 25-30% from 60-70% in weeks before Covid-19 and their revenue is expected to decline by over 50%, likely leading to a loss in the first quarter of FY21.
There are 53 private and trust-run hospitals in lobby group called Association of Hospitals. These hospitals are required to earmark 10% of their operational beds for needy patients and provide them free medical treatment and also reserve 10% of the beds for treatment of patients at concessional rates.
Maharashtra accounted for 12,296 coronavirus cases as of Sunday evening, which is 30% of the total in the country, according to health ministry data. The state government said in the order that hospitals will make all efforts to not deny treatment. Consumable items such as personal protection equipment will not be charged at a more than a 10% mark-up on net procurement costs.
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