Do you know that your private hospital is fleecing you based on which room you choose to hire?
It’s understandable to be charged more for a bed and bed services in a semi-private or private room, but you are probably also being charged extra for things like surgery, the operation theatre (OT), the anaesthetist’s fee, etc. You are paying at least 25% more for medical treatment that is totally unrelated to the kind of room you have hired.
32-year-old Sushil Kumar (name changed) visited one of Delhi’s biggest private hospitals, Apollo Hospital, to undergo surgery for a broken arm. Since his medical insurance had lapsed, his family members asked for the budget of the operation. They were given budgets for three different room categories, general ward, semi-private room and private room.
Total charge for the operation and a 2-night stay in the general ward was Rs 1.50 lakh, in semi-private room was Rs 1.82 lakh, and for the private room was Rs 2.21lakh. But the break-up shocked Kumar and his family.
Room charges were different, but what surprised me was that I was paying extra for the same medical treatment. When I asked the cashier, he said as per the pricing policy of the hospital, the room decides the treatment charges. When I asked him why, he couldn’t justify the policy.Sushil Kumar, Patient