The cost of COVID treatment in Goa is more scary than the virus, feel Goans

To be categorized as middle class or lower middle-class can
mean different things to different people. It may mean a certain economic
status or a representative of one’s economic wellbeing. In these covid times it
can mean one could be struggling to pay the hospitals bills that one may accrue
if a loved one is battling with the virus.
The hospitals run by the government are all full and not
taking in any more patients.    As per the capped rates in the
private sector the rent for a bed in a general ward could be Rs 10,000 per day,
the rates for twin sharing basis Rs 13000 per day and Rs 16,000 is the limit
set for a single private room. The patient will have to shell out as much as Rs
24,000 for a day in the ICU with a ventilator. These are rates that will make
you stand and stare. May not mean much for the family of an industrialist or a
successful businessman but it will mean the call of death for many families who
work in 9-5 jobs. The virus has exposed the growing disparity between the have
and the have-nots.    
Aswini Franco is involved in physical fitness as a Zumba
trainer and she said it was shocking that the cost of medical facilities had increased
so dramatically. She said “The treatment is very expensive. People right now
have no jobs. The government is increasing the rate of everything. People need
to survive. That is becoming increasingly difficult”. The middle class she said
had begged the government to do something   but they did nothing. She
said “The general feeling is that the government has left the matter of
survival to the people and it is up to us to find our way and the rates being
levied by the hospitals is indicative of such a mentality.”
For academic Sthrigdhara Naik the high rates being levied
were unfortunate. She said “The average Goan cannot afford to pay these rates
and one has to also understand that jobs have been lost en masse in certain
industries. How can you afford these rates?  The government may take a
look at the situation and do something but even then how will people afford it.
No one has the money to pay these hotels”.
Rajesh Morajkar felt with the rates being so high many people
preferred being quarantined at home if the tested positive because many of them
could not afford the rates being levied by the private sector. He said” With
beds not available in the government run hospitals and no vaccine possible very
soon, it does not look like anyone really knows what is going on. One can hope
for the best and stay at home if one is tested positive.”  
Law student Aishwariya Sinari felt he cost related
regulation, was not affordable to common man and hence there ought to be a
concession on the tariff structure to fight the commercial exploitation of
health services in the state. 
Rohan Pandit felt the state government ought to take prompt
action to provide medication for critically ill COVID -19 infected patients. He
felt managing private medical institutions was important and the government
could try to provide relief in some other terms for operating medical
institutions.  With most of the population in Goa, he said coming under
the lower middle class and middle class, it was important to reduce the rates or
introduce a medical expense facility. He felt it would be better if the private
hospitals could synchronise with medical insurance agencies working towards a
critical illness policies so as to making the patients avail medication at
present and repayment with premium in future.
The situation on the ground is pretty bad with jobs having
being lost and the virus still spreading without any problems. One can only
hope the state government decides to listen to the people on the ground.