K’taka doctors’ stir ends as govt agrees to amend medical bill

BENGALURU: Agitating doctors of private hospitals in Karnataka called off their strike on Friday after the government agreed to make certain amendments to a contentious medical bill that seeks to regulate the health sector and cap prices of treatment.

The development comes soon after the Karnataka high court passed an interim order, directing the agitating doctors to immediately resume services and participate in the talks convened by CM Siddaramaiah in Belagavi to discuss their concerns.

Addressing the media in Belagavi, Siddaramaiah said there were certain concerns of doctors and private hospitals that were addressed at the meeting. He said the government will now table the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (Amendment) Bill (KPME), 2017, in the assembly on Monday after a few changes. “We will bring a bill that will not cause inconvenience either to doctors or poor people,” he said.

More than 20,000 doctors went on a strike and 6,000 private medical establishments, barring emergency services, were shut on Thursday in protest against the proposed bill that would define how private hospitals function and how much they can charge. While the CM did not specify the changes to be made in the bill, Dr C Jayanna, presidentelect of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, said the government clarified that the proposed price caps would only be applicable for procedures on BPL cardholders. “It was clarified that there would be no universal price cap, but only for certain procedures for BPL cardholders covered by government insurance schemes,” he said.

The earlier version of the bill had said an expert committee would be formed that would recommend “fixation of cost of each health service or treatment and different rates may be proposed for different class of private medical establishments”.