The Democratic Youth Federation of India on Friday said the Dakshina Kannada district administration has allowed private hospitals to fleece poor COVID-19 patients by not arranging a centralised bed allotment system.
This failure defeats the very purpose of reserving 50% of beds in private hospitals under government quota to offer free treatment to the needy, said DYFI State president Muneer Katipalla in a statement here. The administration has thus lied to people who were forced to pay government-prescribed maximum bed charges even if they do not require treatment in ICU or under the ventilator.
The government which should have declared a health emergency and requisitioned all private hospitals to provide quality treatment to people has stood with the private hospitals lobby and was facilitating fleecing of the poor. The administration has said eligible patients would be treated under Ayushman Bharat Arogya Raksha Kavach AB-ARK scheme in private hospitals without earmarking beds.
As per the scheme, designated government hospitals should refer patients to private hospitals. However, when ordinary beds remain vacant in government hospitals, they could not refer patients requiring additional treatment to private hospitals.
Private hospitals either would say government quota beds were not available with them or compel patients to give an undertaking they would undergo treatment under normal circumstances without availing AB-ARK benefits. Thus, patients were forced to pay thousands of rupees bills, Mr. Katipalla alleged.
The district administration did not respond to queries from The Hindu in this regard.
