Minutes of the meeting of the Medical Committee held on 04.04.2000

The representatives of the IISc Employees Association, SC/ST Employees
Welfare Association, and the Faculty Association attended the meeting of
the Medical Committee. The following were also present: Finance
Controller, Deputy Registrar Mr.Mohandas, Chief Medical Officer and the
Chairman of the Medical Committee.

The Chairman Dr.Seshan briefly presented the figures pertaining to the
total reimbursements made by IISc towards medical expenses before and
after the implementation of the CHSS at IISc. He pointed out that the
total reimbursements have shot up from about Rs.40.0 Lakhs in 1997-1998
(before CHSS) to about Rs.62.5 Lakhs in 1998-1999 (CHSS was introduced in
July 1998), and to a very high figure of about Rs.120.0 Lakhs for
1999-2000. He reminded the members that our Council has approved the CHSS
only till July 2000, and that the Council members are very concerned about
the steep increase in medical expenses.

There is an immediate need to reduce the expenses appreciably. There were
suggestions from members covering various alternatives. The following were
identified as possibilities:

1. In the case of in-patients, the patient/employee meets the first part
of the total hospital bill (10%  or 15% or 20%), leaving the Institute to
pay the remaining portion of 80% to 90%.

2. Alternatively, fix the  maximum  permissible amount as per the norms
of St.Martha's Hospital or  St.John's  Hospital,  to be reimbursed fully.
If a  patient gets treated in other hospitals,  he  will  have to  pay the
additional amount in excess of the St.Martha's/St.John's norms.

3. For out patient medical reimbursements, instead of allowing 100%
reimbursement, follow AMA norms so that about 10% reduction becomes
possible.

4. Reduce the number of authorized hospitals/Nursing Homes from 40 to
about 20, deleting expensive hospitals in the process.

5. Explore the possibility of getting adhoc grants for medical expenses
from sources such as FAR (of the CSIC).

6. Save the outside Consultant's fee by appointing consultants to be
attached to our Health Centre, and making it compulsory for all persons to
consult with them only.

7. Increasing the contribution by the employees/retired employees  to the
CHSS

8. Only in-patient coverage for retired employees and spouses.

The above points need careful examination. All the Association
representatives have been requested to discuss these aspects with the
respective members and to provide a feed back to the Chairman/CMO within
the next 10 days (on or before 17th April 2000) so that some concrete
decision can be taken during the next meeting to be held during the 3rd
week or 4th week of April 2000.





     Dr.P.H.Prasad                           Prof.S.Seshan	
Chief Medical Officer               Chairman, Medical Committee