Cashless mediclaim restored in 449 hospitals for patients insured by PSUs.
The Centre has backed insurance companies in their tussle with hospitals over cashless medical insurance even as cashless medical facilities have been restored in 449 hospitals.
Defending the public sector insurance companies, minister of state for finance Namo Narayan Meena said insurance companies had to resort to rationalisation of rates for cashless facilities as they suffered a loss of Rs2,000 crore because of overcharging by hospitals in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.
He said if hospitals were allowed to overcharge, it could lead to insolvency of the insurance companies. Citing an example, Meena said while the private hospitals were billing about Rs1.35 lakh from an insured patient for caesarian, the rate was Rs55,000 for the uninsured. The rate in a Central Government Health Scheme, the rate was ever lesser — Rs15,000.
The four PSU insurance firms — National Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Assurance - had in July stopped the cashless facility in private hospitals.
“Hospitals were charging patients higher than the reasonable cost of treatment. Due to this, the policy holders were left with smaller amounts of sum assured to be used for any other eventuality,” Meena said in the Rajya Sabha.
He said companies have started rationalisation of empanelment of hospitals and standardisation of rates and specified procedures followed by the hospitals.
Meena informed the Rajya Sabha that cashless medical facilities for persons insured with PSU companies have been restored in 449 hospitals in Delhi (163), Mumbai (121), Bangalore (81) and Chennai (84) after hospitals agreed to charge them at par with non-insured patients.
The minister said that the insurers have been asked that
for emergency and trauma cases, cashless facility should be provided not only at hospitals with their network but other hospitals also.
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