BS RAWAT

Giving relief to the general public, the Karnataka Government on Tuesday capped the cost of Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals across the state that are authorised to treat Covid-19 patients.

The rates range from Rs 5,200 to Rs 25,000 depending on the category and severity of infection -- both for Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) patients and other insurance/cash paying patients.

In an order, T M Vijay Bhaskar, Chief Secretary, said that 50% of the beds in private hospitals having facilities to treat Covid-19 patients shall be reserved for the treatment of patients referred by the public health authorities.

This will include the HDU and ICU beds both with and without ventilators and the remaining 50% of COVID beds for admitting COVID-I9 patients, he added.

“The rates will not be applicable for the patients subscribing to insurance packages as well as for the agreements/MOUs entered into between the hospitals and the corporate entities,” the notification stated.

All the hospitals shall get empanelled through the online portal of the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust with desktop review of statutory documents by the SAST on a fast forward basis, the notification advised.

Non-compliance to this Order will attract punishment under the relevant Sections of the Disaster Management Act 2005 and the Indian Penal Code, it warned.