Here's how private hospitals handover long bills and 'fool' you in the name of treatment

During the operation, our undercover reporter met the highest authorities at various hospitals in Delhi and found shocking details.

Image courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: We all rely upon expensive private hospitals when it’s about the health of our near and dear ones and put everything at stake, to ensure a good treatment, irrespective of hefty hospital bills, which burn our pockets. Akin to the case of young the girl, who died at a top-notch Gurgaon hospital, post which her grieving parents were handed over a bill of Rs 16 lakh. To find how the hospitals produce such long bills, ABP News did a sting- ‘Operation black heart surgery’. During the operation, our undercover reporter met the highest authorities at various hospitals in Delhi and found shocking details. The under-cover reporter approached various hospitals as a middleman, who has ‘got foreigner patients’ for a treatment at the particular hospital and found out that, hospitals over charge the patient about 30-40%; just to pay the middleman’s cut. How is the patient over charged by hospital? As per a marketing manager at Columbia Asia Hospital, located in Ghaziabad “I ensure that I add to every test, and every bill, so that I can pay the middleman his cut”. Speaking to our undercover reporter, the General Manager at Columbia hospital said, “The patient will get mark-up bill”. The charge is different for Indian patients and International patients. For Indian patients, we can give upto 10% to the middleman by giving a mark-up bill to the patient”. It’s heart-wrenching to see that more than a service, many doctors and hospitals treat patients as a source of business and money.