Assam Govt. puts a cap on Nursing Homes’ pricing; Rs 5,000 max for a bed, 12,000 for ICU with ventilator

Minister of Health, Keshab Mahanta held a press conference earlier today in Guwahati and there he announced many important developments. One of the key developments he announced was the introduction of a cap in the charges of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes in Covid treatment.

The health minister said that the decision was not taken unilaterally by the Ministry of Health or Government of Assam, instead, it was decided unanimously after holding several discussions with all the stakeholders including the associations and owners of Private Hospitals. The Health Minister also said that the department studied pricing and caps in other states across the country before reaching a conclusion.

The government of Assam has divided the private hospitals into two categories – Super Speciality Hospital and General Hospital. For Super Speciality hospitals, the maximum price for a general bed has been capped to Rs 5,000, for Cabin the Super Speciality hospitals can charge maximum Rs 6,500 and for ICUs without ventilator Rs 10,000 and with ventilator Rs 15,000 a day.

For General private hospitals or nursing homes, the maximum price fixed for a bed in the ward is Rs 4000 while for cabin the ceiling is Rs 5000. For ICU without ventilator, the maximum that General Hospitals can charge is Rs 9,000 and with ventilator Rs 12,000.

Health Minister made it clear that the charges include registration fee, mask or PPE kit charges, bed and boarding charge, nursing charge, consultation fee of doctors, anesthetiser charges, surgeon charges, blood transfusion charges, oxygen charge, pathology and radiology charges which include X-Ray, ultrasound sonography, Haematology. No private hospitals can charge Covid patients for these facilities.

The private hospitals can charge for CT-Scan, RCT, D Dimer, Remdesivir, Tocilizumab. Any non-Covid treatment that a Covid patient requires can be charged separately under terms and conditions. “The government will issue a notification in this regard later today. We have not restricted the ceiling too much but the hospitals are free to charge below that. However, charging over the cap announced won’t be allowed,” said the Health Minister.

In the same press conference, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta also announced that Covaxin doses will only remain available for beneficiaries seeking second dose. The Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is facing a nationwide crisis and that is why these doses are saved for the ones waiting for their second dose. “This is a temporary decision take by the government keeping in mind the shortage of supply. Once the supply is there, this decision will be evaluated,” said Health Minister.

He also announced that the government will intensify vaccination in five districts of Assam including Cachar.