Pune: No Money To Pay Bill, Senior Citizen ‘Detained’ In Hospital After COVID Treatment
Pune, August 19, 2020: A 66-year-old woman has been stuck in a private hospital for the last four days even after her Coronavirus disease (COVID19) treatment is over, as she has not been able to pay Rs 55,000 bill. After learning about her, officials from the health department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) asked the hospital to reduce the bill under a government scheme.
The woman, who resides in a slum in Aundh, was found COVID19 positive on July 31. Her son had also tested positive. She was admitted to Rising Medicare Hospital in Kharadi, while her son was admitted to the COVID Care Centre in Balewadi.
The woman recovered from COVID and she was to be discharged on Saturday (August 15). However, she was not allowed to go from the hospital as Rs 55,000 bill is pending. Her family members approached the PMC officials and political leaders for helping her.
Advocate Prashant Chandane, who contacted Congress party’s Pune unit, said that the family is eligible for free treatment upto Rs one lakh under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana for the urban poor.
PMC health chief Dr Ramchandra Hankare said that the hospital cannot detain the patient. The hospital has been asked to discharge the patient after adjusting the bill under the health scheme of the government.
The Indian Express newspaper quoted the hospital director Dr Vinod Bharati saying that the bill will be reduced as he will place the proposal before the board of directors. The bill amount is high as more antibiotics and personal protection equipment (PPE) kit was used in the treatment.
