Ficci suggests rational costing framework for COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals

Industry body Ficci on Thursday said it has suggested a rational costing framework for COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals to allay fears of the patients and the community as a whole.

Ficci COVID-19 Response Taskforce, with representatives from leading private hospitals in India, has recommended that patients who are paying out of their own pocket should pay Rs 17,000 per day for treatment in an isolation ward, the industry chamber said in a statement.

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The task force has recommended that the patient should pay Rs 45,000 per day for ICU with ventilator, it said.

These rates include medicines, consumables and basic diagnostics, but exclude PPE costs, high-end drugs and any co-morbidities, the industry body said in the statement, adding these are indicative rates and there may be individual variations to the extent of 5-10 per cent.

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The taskforce has categorised the cost of treatment according to "government referred patients, patients paying from out of pocket and for patients who are covered by TPAs".

It has further been sub-categorised into three levels depending on the severity of the case -- patients who do not require intensive care but must be kept in isolation ward, patients requiring intensive care but are not ventilated and patients requiring intensive care and ventilator support, Ficci said.

"In these difficult times, the private healthcare sector is doing its best to serve with high standards of ethics, transparency, professional competency and compassion," Ficci President Sangita Reddy said.

Ficci Health Services Committee Chair Alok Roy said there is an imperative need to acknowledge that COVID-19 treatment cost is difficult to rationalise essentially due to the unknown nature of treatment required and various co-morbidities associated with it.

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The chamber is working with the government to resolve this evolving and dynamic issue and has submitted the costing framework to the Union Health Ministry and state health departments, it said.

"Ficci member hospitals have pledged to adopt these cost recommendations and display it transparently on their hospital website in their endeavour to fight this war against COVID-19," it added.

"At the same time, Ficci also urged it is important that the government considers and adopts a scientific, plausible and coherent reimbursement criterion for any treatment, that is viable for the providers," the statement said.