PESHAWAR:
Hospitals across KhyberPakhtunkhwa (K-P) have introduced exorbitant charges for their services after Covid19 treatment was included in Sehat Insaf Card. For a single night in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) some hospitals are now charging Rs50,000 per night on a par with the well-known modern private hospitals despite the fact that government hospitals are ill-equipped and their services and facilities are not comparable with the private hospitals.
Sources in the Health Department told The Express Tribune the treatment of Covid19 has been included in the Sehat Insaf Card and after this inclusion the private hospitals as well as public hospitals are now charging very high rates in order to make money. “There is no uniform policy for fixing the rates. These days Qazi Hussain Ahmad Memorial Hospital’s rates are being discussed on social media everywhere. And these rates have created confusion among the general public too,” they said.
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It is worth mentioning here that Deputy Director Admin of the Qazi Hussain Ahmad Memorial Hospital has sent a letter to the District Medical Officer (DMO) Sehat Insaf Card in which in High Dependency Units 33 beds have been reserved for Covid-19 patients and their charges have been fixed at Rs25,000 per bed per night. There are 37 beds in Isolation for Covid-19 patients at the rate of Rs35,000 per Isolation bed for night. By the same token, ventilator beds at ICU will cost patients Rs50,000 per night. “There are different policies in different hospitals. There is free treatment at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH). While at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) charges have been introduced for certain tests.
Other hospitals are charging for some services and some services are free. “There is no explanation and policy statement from the Sehat Insaf Program, further complicating the matters,” said the officials, adding that the private hospitals are also taking advantage of this situation and they are charging Rs50,000 to Rs100,000 per night services. “Due to these higher rates at the private hospitals the poor patients who have Sehat Cards are reluctant to go to private hospitals. Government should take notice of this situation and a uniform policy should be adopted,” they added.
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