The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to apprise it about the difference in situation during the first wave of Covid-19 and the current situation prevailing in the state.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak passed the order on July 29, after being informed by Advocate General D. Saikia that under the present circumstances, it will not be practical for private hospitals to reduce the present rates in their hospitals for COVID care and other related facilities.
The Court adjourned the matter to August 17, while directing the Advocate General to tell the Court about the situation that prevailed in the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic and the present situation, including the infrastructure of Government Hospitals as well as the medical facilities the Government Hospitals presently have, compared to what it had in the first wave of Covid-19.
According to the rates fixed by the state, a super-speciality hospital will charge Rs 5,000 per day for a general ward bed, Rs 6,500 per day for cabin (share), Rs 10,000 daily for ICU without ventilator and Rs 15,000 daily for ICU with ventilator support. For a general hospital, the rates will be Rs 4,000, Rs 5,000, Rs 9,000 and Rs 12,000, respectively.
On June 23, 2021, the High Court had issued a direction, while acting on a PIL petition filed by the Advocates Association of Indigenous Rights of Assamese (AAIRA), seeking ‘reconsideration of the maximum rates’ fixed by the state government.
The Court had nudged the Assam government to reconsider the rates fixed by the state administration for treating Covid-19 patients in private hospitals, as the capped charges ‘prima facie’ appear to be on the higher side.
In the PIL, the association had contended that Kerala and Maharashtra, with higher per capita income, have kept the rates for private hospitals lower than those in Assam.
Pursuant to the order, a meeting of all the stakeholders including the representatives of private hospitals, Government officials and the petitioner was held on July 9.
K. K. Mahanta, Senior Counsel for the petitioners, submitted that during the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic in May, 2020, the Government itself had come out with a scheme where even in some cases, bills in respect of patients who were being taken care of in private hospitals, were also paid by the state government and the same scheme may be implemented again.
To this, the Advocate General stated that in the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic, this scheme was implemented in entirely different circumstances as at that relevant time, there were very few ICUs in Government Hospitals. For example in Guwahati, there were only 40 ICUs but now, there are 691 ICUs in Guwahati, including in two Government Hospitals, which are exclusively taking care of Covid-19 patients. Therefore, there is no necessity for such a scheme as yet.