The Bihar government has dismissed criticism that the rate it fixed for high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of thorax—being used to measure the infection in lungs of Covid patients—was on the higher side citing the unique circumstances presented by the pandemic outbreak.
On Saturday, the government capped the scan at all private laboratories in the state at ₹2,500 for single-slice CT machine and ₹3,000 for multi-slice CT machine with the aim to prevent profiteering when it’s being used extensively to decide the line of treatment for Covid-19 patients.
However, some questioned the rationale for the rate slab fixed by the government citing it cost less ( ₹1,200) at Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and was also higher than the rates ( ₹1700– ₹2,000) approved by the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).
While reimbursing treatment cost to any of its employees, the state government relies on rates fixed by AIIMS or the CGHS. However, this was not done while capping the rate for the HRCT test.
“We do rely on CGHS and AIIMS rates while reimbursing the cost of treatment, even if undertaken in a private facility by our employees. However, this is a pandemic, where the situation is different,” said Dr Naveen Chandra Prasad, director-in-chief, disease control, health department, Bihar.
The health department claims the higher rates also account for other expenses and were in line with the limit fixed by other states.
“We had taken into account the rates of Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand that ranged between ₹2,000 and ₹3,000, while capping our rate for HRCT scan of thorax, depending on the quality of the machine. The rate includes the cost of PPE kit, sanitisation or GST, required if any,” Dr Prasad said.
Though on the higher side compared to the rates at government hospitals, the capping has still managed to bring down the cost of the computed tomography scan, which was as high as ₹5,100 in some private laboratories in Patna before the order came into effect.
In the meanwhile, the Covid crisis in the state has shown signs of easing a bit with the test positivity rate (TPR), which was at 16.1% on April 30, declining to 10.3% on May 9. The TPR measures the percentage of positive cases among all those tested for the disease on a given day.
Bihar reported 10,174 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, taking the total number of cases to 601,650. Patna topped with 1,745 new cases, followed by Katihar 706, Gopalganj 541, East Champaran 478, Samastipur 463, Begusarai 435 and Vaishali 417 among others.
In other measures to standardise the cost of treatment for Covid patients, the state government on May 5 fixed the rates for both AC and non-AC private ambulances in the state.
Private ambulances now cannot charge more than ₹1,500 for a small non-AC vehicle up to 50km (including both sides), and ₹2,500 for bigger vehicles with AC for the same distance. Last year in August, the government also capped treatment rate for Covid-19 patients at private hospitals to a maximum of ₹18,000 per day for ICU patients with ventilator support for NABH (national accreditation board of hospitals) accredited hospitals and ₹15,000 for non-NABH accredited hospitals in Patna, while the rates were lesser for the remaining 37 districts of Bihar.
