Andhra Pradesh govt increases punishment for private hospitals charging excessive fee

The Andhra Pradesh government, led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, raised the penalties on Friday, May 28, for private hospitals that charged excessive fees from patients. The government issued a new order amending prior directives, stating that if a hospital is discovered to be charging more than the prescribed rate, they will be fined ten times the additional amount, and serial violators will be prosecuted.

Andhra Pradesh raises penalties by 10 times

The state government officials informed, "If any hospital is found to be charging more than the prescribed rates, they shall be levied a penalty which shall be 10 times of the additional charges by the concerned DM and HO at the first violation. If any hospital or clinical establishment is found to be repeating the same, such hospital shall be prosecuted as per the provisions of IPC, besides action as per the Clinical Establishment Act."

They added, "The Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare, AP, the Director of Public Health & Family Welfare, A.P., the DMHOs, District Collectors and Superintendents/ Commissioner of Police in the State shall take further necessary action accordingly."

Healthcare facilities in Andhra Pradesh

Also, Andhra Pradesh CM planned a strategy to improve the state's healthcare system. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy intends to construct big Super Specialty and Multi-Facility Hospitals in each of the state's 16 districts and three corporations. Each district and corporation will receive 30-50 acres of land as part of the proposal. Over the next three or more years, the goal of constructing 80 Super Specialty Hospitals and Multi-Facility Hospitals has been maintained. Within three years, each district and corporation should have 5-10 hospitals. The land would be awarded to hospitals that have made a three-year investment of at least Rs 100 crore.

In Andhra Pradesh, recoveries continue to outnumber new cases of Coronavirus, but daily mortality continues to exceed a hundred, despite the state's ability to handle the falling caseload. In the 24 hours, there were 21,385 recoveries compared to 16,167 new COVID-19 cases and 104 deaths, according to the latest data. So far, 16,43,557 positives have been recorded from 1.89 crore tests.  After a total of 14,46,244 recoveries and 10,531 deaths, the number of active cases dropped to 1,86,782.  In a single day, Chittoor district recorded 2,967 new positives and East Godavari 2,325 new cases, while five districts each added 1,000 to 1,500 new cases.

(With inputs from ANI)

Picture Credit: PTI/representative image