• Outpatients have to shell out user charges for all treatments, tests
• Rule implemented from Mar. 1 following Government directive

Mysuru:  The century-old K.R. Hospital in the heart of the city, which has been offering free services for poor people since the rule of erstwhile Wadiyars, has started charging user fee for all the treatments offered to outpatients. The Hospital authorities say that they have no other option but to charge patients as the State Government has suspended funds for free treatment of outpatients.

Outpatients have to pay for the treatment even if they come along with BPL card and even the economically weaker sections of all communities, except SC and ST, will have to pay up. This move has shocked the people and has caused lot of confusion in the Hospital leading to verbal spat between patients and Hospital staff. People who come from far off places are totally unaware of the Government’s new decision and are questioning the Hospital authorities on the issue.

The user fee rule has been silently implemented from Mar. 1 following the directives from the Department of Health and Family Welfare (Medical Education) which states that all Hospitals (including K.R. and Cheluvamba) in the State coming under Medical Education Dire-ctorate have to collect user charges from patients.

The directive states that in order to empower the managements of Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals, besides enabling them to deal with day-to-day financial needs, the Government has allowed them to collect user charges.

Government directive

The new user charges that have been decided in comparison with All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, will help these institutions run Colleges and Hospitals smoothly and improve standards of teaching and patient care. The Department of Health and Family Welfare (Medical Education) had asked all hospitals to levy user charges from 1.9.2018 and had issued another directive on 26.10.2018.

Rupees ten user fee is levied for OPD (outpatient department) registration and Rs. 25 for in-patient registration. In-patient bed charges per day have been fixed at Rs. 25 per day. For special ward, Rs. 750 (per bed) will be charged for twin-bed occupancy per day and Rs. 1,500 will be charged for single bed occupancy. Patients opting for VIP suites will be charged Rs. 3,000 per day.

ICU charges per day have been fixed at Rs. 2,000 and there will be extra charge for medicines, tests, investigations and consumables. Patients in High Dependency Unit (HDUs) will be charged Rs. 1,500 per day and here too, extra charges will be levied for medicines and related tests. Post-operative room charges have been fixed at Rs. 500 per day and patients have to pay extra for medicines and post-operative care.

Operation charges will be Rs. 750 for the first hour and subsequent time will be charged at Rs. 400 per hour. A patient has to pay 35 percent of the surgery charges as user charges for anaesthesia. Only H1N1 swine flu cases will be treated free as per the government order. Patients have to pay up for all other treatments.

Price tags for various services

Price tags have been fixed for various treatments that can be obtained from departments. Coronary Angiogram will cost Rs. 7,000, Rs. 5,500 for Cath Studies and Rs. 45,000 for Coronary Angioplasty (elective non-medicated one stent), Rs. 50,000 for two stents, Rs. 55,000 for elective one drug eluting stent and Rs. 75,000 for two drug eluting stents.

Procedures like Peripheral Angioplasty will cost Rs. 50,000 plus stent charges, Renal Angioplasty and Vertebral Angioplasty will cost Rs. 50,000 plus stent charges. Permanent pacemaker implantation will cost Rs. 25,000 plus pacemaker charges. Likewise, rates have been fixed for various procedures at different wings of the Hospital including Biochemistry, Cardiology, Dermatology, Ent, Forensic Medicine, General Medicine and Surgery, Neurology, Paediatrics, Radiology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, etc.

Implementing Government Order: MMC&RI Dean

When Star of Mysore, which received many calls from frantic patients on the new user charges, contacted the Dean of Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI) Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj, he said that all BPL card holders have to pay the user charges. User charges for in-patients will be refunded under ‘Ayushman Bharat – Arogya Karnataka Scheme.’ “The Government has released a 30-page rate chart listing out different user fees for different services. We are levying charges as per the list and are only implementing the Government Order,” he said.

One of the relatives of a patient at K.R. Hospital called SOM yesterday and expressed his helplessness as they had to cough up a whopping bill of Rs. 5 lakh.

No hospital for poor anymore

Reacting on the new charges, M.S. Gururajashetty of Devaraja Mohalla said that if K.R. Hospital that is known for its service to poor charges money, where will the poor go. “Simple procedures like blood tests, ECG, X-Ray and all other services will cost money. K.R. Hospital has been catering to patients from Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, H.D. Kote, Hunsur, Mandya and even Kodagu. It is called ‘Doddaspathre’ by the rural folk and had the reputation of providing free treatment. Unfortunately, the State Government has gone back on its promise of providing good and free healthcare for the poor,” he said.

MLA Nagendra reacts

Chamaraja MLA L. Nagendra, under whose Constituency the K.R. Hospital comes, told Star of Mysore that the State Government was fleecing the poor. “It is not a people-friendly Government and I have received many complaints from patients about the charges being levied at K.R. Hospital. I will raise the issue in the Assembly after the Lok Sabha elections. We must not allow this to continue,” he said.

When SOM tried to contact the District Minister G.T. Devegowda and Medical Education Minister D.K. Shivakumar over phone, they were not available.