Anwer Khan hospital refunds ‘extra’ money it billed COVID-19 patient

Anwer Khan Modern Hospital has refunded a COVID-19 patient around Tk 116,000 in “extra” bills but kept Tk 34,000 after forcing him to pay the total sum to go home.

Arifur Rahman, the younger brother to the patient Saifur Rahman, said they received the money on Wednesday afternoon.

“The hospital authorities kept the rest of the money citing different heads,” Arifur said, thanking the media for reporting the incident.

Saifur told bdnews24.com on Tuesday evening that he got admitted to the hospital in Dhanmondi on May 23 when he felt discomfort due to rapid heart rates after testing positive for COVID-19 two days earlier.

He was later slapped with a bill of Tk 170, 875 at the time of his discharge on Tuesday.

The patient was eventually released in the early hours of Wednesday, but only after convincing the authorities that the Tk 150,000 was all they could manage to pay, said Arifur.

In the wake of the soaring coronavirus infections and deaths, the government announced that COVID-19 treatment would be provided free of cost at 13 private hospitals, one of which was Anwer Khan Modern Hospital.  

But the hospital had billed him unfairly, Saifur alleged. They had performed blood tests twice, conducted three x-rays and supplied him with Napa tablets as medication until Tuesday. He did not require oxygen support either.

The Tk 34,000 Saifur had to pay finally included bills for bed charges, meals, “COVID protection”, medical tests, drugs, special services, nursing, pulse oximeter, duty doctor, consultancy and service charges.