Karnataka government issues order to reserve 50% private hospital beds for govt-referred Covid patients

Bengaluru: As the Covid cases are surging, the Karnataka government has issued an order on Tuesday, mandating the reservation of 50% beds of private hospitals for treating the Covid-10 patients referred by the public authorities.

The order issued by chief secretary P Ravi Kumar is similar to the one issued on June 23, 2020, by the health and family welfare department. It will be in force until further orders.

As per the new order, the government’s price cap for Covid treatment will vary from Rs 5,200 to Rs 10,000 per day if the patient is referred by a government authority to a private hospital. In this case, the government will take up the cost.

The charges vary from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 per day if the patient looks for treatment in private hospitals on his or her own. The charges for a self-admitted covid patient in the general ward are Rs 10,000 per day.

Hospitals’ association asks for 7-10 days for implementing the order

The cost for treating in a high-dependency ward is Rs 12,000 per day per patient, Rs 15,000 for ICU without ventilator, and Rs 25,000 for ICU with ventilator.

The order implemented in June 2020, was withdrawn with the decrease in cases in November 2020. The state government has also appointed nodal officers from Bescom and BWSSB for every Covid treating hospital for Covid management.

The private hospitals and nursing homes have asked for 7-10 days’ time for implementing the order as the hospitals are packed with non-Covid patients too. Dr. Rajshekar YL, secretary of Phana said, “A year ago, we didn’t have non-Covid patients in our wards. Hence, it was much easier to set aside beds for Covid care.”