Implement fees set by govt immediately

The media on Monday reported that the government fixed a list of fees for various services including tests for coronavirus in the 10 months after the first COVID-19 case was detected in the country. The government assigned a few hospitals for coronavirus treatment before the onslaught began. Most of those dedicated hospitals were government affiliated. Besides some private hospitals were given permission for COVID-19 treatment. COVID-19 patients take treatment in other private hospitals beside these dedicated coronavirus hospital.

Private hospitals turned away COVID patients in the beginning, but their attitude changed after a while. Both public and private hospitals treat coronavirus patients. The cost is much higher in private hospitals though. The key reason is the government has no control over the private hospitals. These hospital authorities set exorbitant fees for treatment.

A pandemic is supposed to evoke empathy and support in people’s hearts. It is sad that some people are still behaving quite opposite in the situation. Many private hospitals are using COVID as opportunity for making extra profit. In our country, the cost of treatment at the private hospitals was already high. The pandemic has added extra costs to that. Many families lost their last resort to bear the cost of life-saving oxygen. Patients are being given oxygen at a much higher price than usual.

Necessary steps have finally been taken to curb the cost of treatment of COVID patients as much as possible by curbing this ruthless profiteering. The DGHS has fixed the fees of 10 tests required for COVID-19 patients at Tk 400 to Tk 6,000. At the same time, the price of oxygen has also been fixed. The cost of the tests is reasonable, but the price of oxygen has been set at a very high rate. For example, an hourly flow of 10 to 15 litres of oxygen is priced at Tk 350. If a COVID patient needs this amount of oxygen for 24 hours, the cost of oxygen alone will exceed Tk 8,000 in a single day. It is extremely expensive. This price must be reset.

At the private level, it will not be enough to issue a pricing notice to adjust the cost of COVID treatment. It is also important to ensure that the price list is followed strictly and no one can collect a single penny from the patient beyond the price fixed by the government. This is a big challenge, which requires regular monitoring by the DGHS and the families must also be aware. Every private hospital should make arrangements to post up the fees list of COVID-19 treatment and open a complaint box for the relatives of the patients.