Tamil Nadu: Despite cap on booster doses, hospitals overcharge

Chennai: Tamil Nadu has put a cap on the price for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine for people below 60 years, but some private hospitals continue to overcharge patients. The directorate of public health, which oversees vaccinations in private and public sectors, said permissions for vaccinations will be cancelled for hospitals guilty of this violation.

On Friday, city-based Srushti Fertility Centre charged Rs780 for a dose of Covishield vaccine, when the price including service charge has been fixed at Rs 386.25. “My appointment was moved from Thursday to Friday. When I went there on Friday, they asked me to pay Rs 780 for one dose. While I paid it through G-pay, I was given two bills of Rs390 each. One was in the name of the hospital, the other was in the name of the research foundation,” said one patient. TOI has copies of the bills and e-receipt of the transaction.

Another person at the hospital said there was no social distancing and no healthcare worker was wearing a mask.

“I scheduled an appointment through Cowin app for Saturday, but was asked to come on Friday. After waiting for more than two hours, the process began and I realised they were charging us double. Another person who was with her mother had to scream to get her Aadhaar back,” she said.

On Saturday, the hospital’s doctors said they “overcharged” patients by mistake.

“There was some miscommunication. We corrected our mistake today. We will be charging patients the government prescribed fee,” hospital director Dr Priya Prabhakaran told TOI.

Director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam said private centres that overcharge patients will be delisted from the Cowin portal. “We are closely tracking vaccinations in government and private centres. Private hospitals are allowed to charge a maximum of Rs150 per dose as service charges over and above the cost of the vaccine for booster doses. The cost of vaccination, including service charges, must be available in the public domain.”

Complaints can be made with the district health authorities and on state helpline 104.

All booster doses given by private centres for the 18-59 age group must be recorded in Cowin portal, he said.