Bill seeks setting up of Commission to curb medical costs

Bill seeks setting up of Commission to curb medical costs

Subject :Governance

• Private member bill to set up commission to regulate medical costs was introduced in Rajya Sabha.
• CPI Rajya Sabha MP P. Santhosh Kumar names the Bill as ‘The National Commission for Controlling Medical Inflation Act, 2022’.

About the bill

• The bill seeks to set up a the National Commission for Controlling Medical Inflation, with a Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and five other members.
• It shall have the powers of a civil court.
• The government shall consult the commission on all policies related to the control and monitoring of medical inflation.
• The proposed Commission should also be tasked with standardising the prices of essential medicines, medical diagnostic tests, pathological tests and all other relevant medical and allied services across the country in order to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure.
• It should determine an upper limit for the fee to be charged for every procedure and test, draft a national policy for the standardisation of medical expenses and design a quality assurance framework.

Introduction of a private member bill

• Any Member of Parliament (MP) who is not a minister is referred to as a private member.
• The purpose of private member’s bill is to draw the government’s attention to what individual MPs see as issues and gaps in the existing legal framework, which require legislative intervention.
• Thus it reflects the stand of the opposition party on public matters.
• Also, the MP can be from any party or an independent MP.
• Its drafting is the responsibility of the member concerned.
• Its introduction in the House requires one month’s notice.
• The government bills can be introduced and discussed on any day, private member’s bills can be introduced and discussed only on Fridays.
• Its rejection by the House has no implication on the parliamentary confidence in the government or its resignation.
• Upon conclusion of the discussion, the member piloting the bill can either withdraw it on the request of the minister concerned, or he may choose to press ahead with its passage.
• The last time a private member’s bill was passed by both Houses was in 1970.
• It was the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968.
• 14 private member’s bills — five of which were introduced in Rajya Sabha — have become law so far.Some other private member bills that have become laws include-
• Proceedings of Legislature (Protection of Publication) Bill, 1956, in the Lok Sabha;
• The Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1964, introduced by in the Lok Sabha and
• The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 1967 introduced in the Rajya Sabha.