On Friday , similar to the capping of coronavirus test prices the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) fixed the charges on five radiological tests and 15 pathological tests which are conducted by private hospitals. The health department has issued an order that all private hospitals with more than 150 beds would follow the order.
Among pathological tests, the Procalcitonin test cannot cost more than Rs 4,000, the upper limit for the IL-6 test has been fixed at Rs 3,500, for D-dimer, it is Rs 2,300.
According to the commission, Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many had complained about exorbitant rates of tests at private hospitals. The commission said it has been getting complaints of high charges for the tests, especially from Covid patients so they took the decision to cap the prices of the tests.
The guidelines containing the fixed price of the tests have been issued by WBCERC on the basis of the recommendations received from the panels and the rates will also be applied to all the hospitals in the states having accreditation from National Accreditation Board for Hospitals.
The guidelines have made it clear that the cost of these tests at a private hospital is currently less than the prescribed cost and these costs cannot be increased now.