After the private hospitals in Tamil Nadu have been criticized over levying exorbitant charges on the patients who are getting treated for COVID-19 virus, the Tamil Nadu unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has come up with the estimate fee structure and charges that the private hospital should charge from the patients.

The price cap for the treatment at the private hospital has come days after the Tamil Nadu Health Department announced that it would be fixing the standard price for the private hospitals to reduce the grounds of charging excessively from the virus hit patients. According to the reports, the state's branch of IMA has outlined the fee structure and has moved it to the government's approval.  

The reports say that the IMA has met with the state health secretary to route out the price cap for the private hospitals and the Central body has now disclosed its estimates for the private hospitals on charging the patients for availing treatments. 

While the government is yet to decide and approve the IMA's disclosure, the proposed estimates are at a high scale that most people can't afford amid the financial stress and instabilities. 

According to the IMA, the private hospitals in Tamil Nadu can charge Rs 2,31,820 as the fee for treating the COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms for ten days at COVID centers and COVID health care centers. This estimate is only for the hospital charges including accommodation, administrative charges, pharmacy, equipment, consumables, and investigations which means that the patient has to pay Rs 23,000 per day.

Apart from these charges, the IMA has estimated that the doctor's consulting charges, quarantine, and food expenses for doctors and other staff working in the designated COVID centers would cost around Rs 9,600 per day which would also be endured on the patients. It can be learned that the patient with mild symptoms would pay at least Rs 30,000 per day in private hospitals for getting treatments for the pandemic.

For the patients who are with severe symptoms and getting treated at the critical care units of the private hospitals, the IMA has capped the price at Rs 4,31,311 for 17 days apart from the consulting and quarantine charges. The IMA's state unit has stated that the body has derived the estimate with accord to the protocols of the state government for treating COVID-19 patients and added that the price cap of the IMA is for the corporate hospitals.

With having no surety on how the state government would take it up, the cost structure prescribed by IMA is, however, looks exorbitant for the patients who can't afford which would make them less feasible to avail treatment at the private hospitals amid the financial stress.