'Capped rates of tests in pvt hosps not valid for corporates'

Kolkata: West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Wednesday clarified that the order which was issued to all the private hospitals having a capacity of 150 beds and above regarding capping of the charges of radiological and pathological investigations would only be applicable on cash payment by patients, who would be paying from their own pockets.

Capping of price would not be applicable for corporate patients. WBCERC chairperson Justice (retired) Ashim Banerjee said: "Capping will only be applicable for cash patients and not for the corporate ones. We have clarified it to avoid any kind of confusion among the people. The capping would also be enforced in case the corporate patients or those having medical insurance pay from their pockets in excess to the amount cleared by the insurance company."

In many cases, even the patients with medical insurance have to pay some portion of the treatment cost which is not given by the insurance company. The capping would be applicable on that portion, said the Commission. The order was issued on July 2. The new rate chart would be applicable for both Covid and non-Covid patients. The main purpose of the move is to rationalise the rates of various radiological and pathological investigations.

The Commission has capped the rate of chest X ray PA view (single exposure) at Rs 400 and USG chest at Rs 2,200, HRCT (both Inspiratory and Expiratory) 16 slice Rs 3800, HRCT 64 slice Rs 4,500, HRCT 128 slice Rs 5200. The WBCERC also fixed the rate of additional contrast study of Thorax at Rs 1500, CT pulmonary angiography 64 slice at Rs 10000 and 128 slice Rs 11000. Among the pathological charges, the rate of D- Dimer test has been fixed at Rs 2300, IL- 6 at Rs 3500, procalcitonin Rs 4000.