IMA protests non-viable packages in hospitals

PUNE: The Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Hospital Board of India has written to the secretary general of General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) on the forceful implementation of non-viable packages at hospitals, especially those small.
Confirming the development, IMA national president Dr Sharad Agarwal said the letter dated December 5 stated that GIC and other insurance firms were pressurizing hospitals to accept non-viable packages.“If this continues, the hospitals might simply deny services to patients despite signing the MoU with GIC,” he said.
Dr Agarwal said, “The cost on the product or service needs to be based on scientific study to ensure viability on the part of the service providers.”
Experts said the current rates were 70-80% less than the practical rates. Dr AV Ravikumar, chairperson of IMA’s Hospital Board of India, who has written the letter to the GIC, said, “Patients can approach the ombudsman for problems, while the insurance firms can approach the GIC. For hospitals, however, there is no such organization catering to their problems. We want empanelment of all under the Clinical Establishments Act (CEA), a common scientific template for packages, and a common redressal forum for hospitals.”