The committee appointed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to audit the payments of personal hospitals treating COVID-19 sufferers has requested 76 of them to collectively refund an quantity of Rs 6.44 crore, which is Rs. greater than was charged.
There are 137 hospitals underneath PCMC, out of which 132 are personal. The committee mentioned that it had examined about 2,700 payments and located that the fees levied by personal hospitals weren’t fastened by the state authorities in respect of varied remedy costs.
“We had received 131 complaints from the families of COVID-19 patients. Besides, we had also pre-audited the bills and reduced the charges as the rates of treatment were not in line with the rates fixed by the state government. We have verified 2700 bills so far and the process is still on,” mentioned Srikant Shivane, who heads the PCMC-appointed committee to audit the payments.
Shivane mentioned that when a invoice is raised by the hospital and if the household of a affected person feels that it’s unfair, they need to deliver it to a different discover. “Otherwise, now we have directed the hospitals to discharge the affected person and alert their officers a day earlier than the invoice is offered. It helps in pre-audit of the invoice and helps in lowering the quantity whether it is too excessive and never as per the phrases. But typically the payments come in useful even after they’re handed over to the sufferers’ households.”
When requested whether or not the hospitals have been following the directions of the PCMC audit groups to situation a revised invoice, Shivane mentioned, “Though we do not have the system to track it, we believe that the hospitals are following our instructions.” This is as a result of, after our directions to the hospitals to cut back the invoice quantity, now we have acquired solely two complaints from the sufferers’ household. We had requested the hospitals to observe our directions.
Shivane mentioned that in a specific case associated to a serious hospital, a police grievance was additionally filed for non-compliance of PCMC’s directions and overcharging. “Later it appeared that the matter was withdrawn after the two sides settled the matter,” he mentioned.
However, some households have had a bitter expertise after complaining to the PCMC audit staff. “At a private hospital in Bhosari where my father was treated, he made a bill of over Rs 3 lakh. When we complained to the PCMC audit team, they came and verified the bill amount. The audit team reduced the bill. However, the hospital said that they had wrongly mentioned Rs 3 lakh… they said the actual amount was Rs 3.25 lakh. In short, there was no use calling the PCMC audit team,” mentioned Sheetal Mahanakale, a resident of Kasarwadi.
Mangesh Sale, a resident of Pimpri, mentioned, “A private hospital in Indrayani Nagar deposited a bill of Rs 1 lakh for the treatment of my mother-in-law. The hospital said that they are not implementing the state government’s Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, although the PCMC has made it mandatory. The hospital refused to bring the bill. When a hospital is not implementing this scheme, why is PCMC allowing them to treat patients who cannot afford costly treatment. SAIL said that when she shifted her mother-in-law to another hospital in Moshi area, she too raised a bill of Rs 1.5 lakh for five days of treatment. “We have complained to the officials of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana. They have not acted on it yet,” she mentioned.
Maval MP Srirang Barne mentioned he’s getting such complaints from residents every single day and has lodged a grievance with the Chief Minister’s Office.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
