Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh has lauded the Assam government for the proactive step it took this month of introducing a price cap for Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals.
The Meghalaya government has been under pressure to implement the same in this state after reports have emerged of ordinary citizens being saddled with huge bills for their treatment.
Last week the state government set up a consultative committee to look into complaints of exorbitant billing. The committee comprises representatives of the Health Department, government and private hospitals.
Lyngdoh said that Assam has taken an admirable step in issuing prescribed health treatment protocols and a price cap with affordable rates fixed for both general and super-specialty wards.
“We don’t know if the government of Meghalaya will be taking these kinds of steps and attending to the huge bills in private institutions faced by the public, which are touching more than Rs 3.50 lakh for 10 to 15 days treatment,” the opposition legislator said.
“We have questioned this several times and asked for the auditing, including expenditures and receipts but nobody knows anything,” she told Highland Post recently. “We want to know about the funds because we are still managing everything from our resources and providing to the thousands that have nothing left to fend for themselves including those not covered under the NFSA (National Food Security Act), etc.”
