AIIMS burdens patients, pvt ward charges up by 350 pc

New Delhi: AIIMS New Delhi has revised the hospitalization charges in private wards after more than 10 years. However, it is set to burn a hole in the pockets of the patients who come to the premier institute as the last hope for their illnesses. The apex institute on Thursday revised room rent and diet charges of private wards. With the new charges, the patients will have to pay 350 per cent more in the hospitalization at private wards making it at par with the charges at private healthcare facilities, officials said. According to the latest order accessed by UNI, the Deluxe rooms (Class A) will now cost Rs 6,000 a day while the rate of ordinary rooms (Class B) has been revised to Rs 3,000 for a day. Besides, the diet charges have also been revised to Rs 300 per day which is optional for the admitted patient, according to the order. Hospital sources said the move has been taken after the recommendations made during a standing finance committee meeting convened in March. “The increase was instituted to recover the foregone revenue in the wake of waiver of charges on low-cost investigations and laboratory tests,” a senior official said. He also said that the last time that the charges of the private wards were revised was in 2011. However, the revised rates seem exorbitantly high as the patients were earlier charged Rs 1,700 for Deluxe rooms and Rs 1,100 from the ordinary rooms in private wards, as mentioned on the institute’s website. However, the major challenge the patients will likely face is paying up the mandatory deposit while taking admission. According to the apex hospital’s policy, those seeking hospitalization in private wards have to pay an advance deposit money which is 10 days of room rent plus the diet charges. With the latest revision, now patients will have to pay Rs 63,000 (10 days room rent advance diet charges) which would have cost them Rs 18,200 (days room rent advance, diet charges+ Rs 200 as admission charge). With the latest decision, the admission charges now have been accommodated in the revised rates. (Ashish Srivastava-UNI)