Dr Sayeed Ahmad Ali, a Noida resident and a Unani practitioner, died on June 28, from coronavirus complications.
He was admitted at Fortis Hospital, Noida, on June 7 and was kept on ventilator for 15 days, according to hospital authorities and close relatives of the victim.
The hospital has given a bill of over Rs14 lakh to the kin of a Covid victim who was admitted at the facility for 20 days. The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has said that it will look into the matter.
The family took possession of the body on June 29 against a legal declaration on a Rs10 stamp paper to pay the negotiated amount, one of the relatives said.
The hospital gave a bill of over Rs14 lakh to the grieving family, which was later revised to Rs10.2 lakh after the insurance covered Rs4 lakh while the family paid Rs25,000, as per hospital authorities.
However, the Fortis Hospital, in a statement sent to HT, said that the charges were transparent, discounted and “based on the CGHS (central government health scheme) tariffs as per the MoU with the government”.
“The family of the patient was informed about the treatment details at every step and was also counselled about the criticality of the patient…The details have been submitted to the CMO office as well. Our transparent billing process ensured that the family of the patient was kept informed about the expenses incurred during the treatment. There is no discrepancy in the billing process in this case,” said the statement from the hospital.
Meanwhile, the district administration said that the private hospital fee is based on “self-regulation”. “We are looking into the matter. But the media reports about the charges levied by the private hospital for the Covid-19 patient seem unverified. The health team has been asked to look into the matter,” said Suhas LY, district magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar.