COVID TREATMENT: Gauhati High Court asks Dispur to reconsider rates at private hospitals

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has asked the State government to see whether it could reconsider the rates fixed for treatment of COVID-19 patients in private hospitals.

As per the rates fixed by the State Government, a bed in the general ward of a super speciality hospital would cost a patient Rs 5,000 per day, a shared cabin would cost Rs 6,500 a day, an ICU bed without a ventilator would cost Rs 10,000 a day and an ICU bed with a ventilator would cost Rs 15,000 a day. In other than super speciality hospitals, a bed in a general ward would cost Rs 4,000 per day, a shared cabin would cost Rs 5,000 a day, an ICU bed without a ventilator would cost Rs 9,000 a day and an ICU bed with a ventilator would cost Rs 12,000 a day.

Advocate KK Mahanta while before a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak through video conferencing, has submitted that rates fixed by the government for COVID-19 patients in private hospitals are slightly on the higher side compared to equal cities throughout the country.

"Since all the details are not available to us, we are not in a position to give any specific directions. However, since prima facie it appears to be slightly on the higher side, we can only direct the State Government that it may reconsider these prices, include the rate of the single cabin, after hearing all the stakeholders," the division bench said.

The high court has put up the matter for the next hearing on July 15, 2021.

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