Can Telangana Govt Seriously Rein Private Hospitals Mafia?

After the fears from various quarters, the Telangana Government had finally decided to increase COVID-19 tests in and around Hyderabad, the hotspot area in the state. 50,000 tests will be held in the next week over 30 constituencies. Around 75% of the total Corona cases of Telangana are from the GHMC region.

The Government also announced that Private labs, hospitals will be permitted to do COVID tests and treatments. Accordingly, rates were fixed by the Government. The Test could cost only 2,200 Rupees. Treatment in the award can not cross 4000 Rupees per day.

ICU with Ventilator treatment could go up only to 9000 Rupees per day while ICU without ventilator treatment could be charged only 7500 Rupees per day. It has to be seen if these rules can rein Private Hospitals. There are reports that Private Hospitals are charging as much as 20 Lakhs for COVID treatment.

Moreover, the beds are reserved only for the Rich and Influential. With Private Hospitals and Labs allowed to do the testing, we can see a spike in the number of cases in the coming days.