641 empanelled hospitals in state overcharged for Covid treatment; Rs 14 crore refunded: MJPJAY audit

Shedding light on the situation, state Health Minister Dr Tanaji Sawant revealed recently in the state Assembly that out of 641 identified hospitals at fault, 607 were issued showcause notices, while 77 hospitals opted out of the scheme.

The issue came to the forefront in 2021 when a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighted that several needy Covid patients from BPL families were being denied MJPJAY benefits. Responding to the PIL, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court criticised the state government for failure in implementing the scheme.

Responding to the court’s directive, the government established district-level grievance redressal cells, headed by respective Collectors, in 2021 during the intense second wave of Covid-19. Dr Sawant confirmed that these cells received 31,703 complaints regarding excessive charges at private hospitals involved in the state’s medical insurance initiative.

“The state health department scrutinised all medical bills and reports. To date, 30,387 complaints have been resolved, while 1,316 remain pending,” Dr Sawant said. Furthermore, adhering to the court’s instructions, the public health department refunded Rs 13.77 crore to the affected patients.

The state government said over 28 lakh Covid-19 patients received treatment under the MJPJAY scheme. However, people like Sunil Thale, a 36-year-old farmer from Palghar, had to deplete his savings to cover his wife’s treatment cost when empanelled hospitals declined to include the BPL patient in the scheme. “All government hospital beds were occupied (in October 2021). Consequently, I had to admit her to a private hospital with a bill of Rs 1.70 lakh. I had to borrow from my family,” Thale told The Indian Express earlier.

A senior doctor from a consortium of private hospitals explained that the surge in the cost of medicines and oxygen during the Covid-19 pandemic made offering free treatment under the scheme unfeasible.

“Additionally, due to shortages of medicines and medical equipment, we had to place advance orders. Moreover, private hospitals are obligated to submit bills to the government within 15 days of treatment. This posed financial difficulties for us, particularly as the patient inflow had decreased by 80 per cent,” the official said.
Overall, the state health department had recorded 68,000 complaints from Covid-19 patients across Maharashtra about hospitals overcharging and denying treatment to them as of 2022.

Also Read

Monsoon to pick up pace from next weekend in Mumbai

Jawan’s clips stolen, leaked online: SRK’s production house files FIR

12 arrested for duping people by offering cheap India-Canada flight tickets

Husband held for kidnapping, murdering wife from Nagpur

A survey carried out by Jan Arogya Abhiyan along with Maharashtra Corona Ekal Mahila Punarvasan Samiti found that nearly 75 per cent of Covid-19 patients who were treated at private hospitals in the state were overcharged despite a price cap set by the Maharashtra government.