People parking black money in hospitals?

According to industry sources, most of the hospitals have been flooded with advance bookings for costly surgeries after the decision was announced on Tuesday. 

“As per existing practice, for the convenience of patients, hospitals provide the facility to book their dates in advance by depositing a lump sum amount of the total cost.

The facility is now being misused for parking unaccounted money after the demonetization decision,” an industry source said.

“People have booked dates for going under the knife for self as well as their relatives by paying hefty amount in advance. The advance payments have made for surgeries such as knee replacement, heart transplant, bone marrow transplant, liver transplant, etc,” the source said.

The cost of a heart transplant ranges from Rs 8-10 lakh, which goes up to Rs 15 lakh in case of complications. While the cost of a total knee replacement package at a premium private hospital is between Rs 4 and 5 lakh, the average cost of liver transplantation is Rs 18 lakh.

When asked what action would be taken against such people, a senior official in Finance Ministry said that stern action would be taken against hospitals and people involved in such matters. “We are planning to seek data of such advance bookings and issue an advisory to all hospitals,” the official said.