<p>The State Cabinet on Thursday approved reimbursement of infertility treatment to government employees by considering ‘barrenness’ a ‘disease’ by giving its consent to the Karnataka Government Servants' (Medical Attendance) (amended) regulation, 2012.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sources in the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) said State has adopted CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) rules for the said regulation to be implemented for the State government employees and has modified it according to their requirement. <br /><br />Officials of the DPAR department said infertility treatment including Invitro fertilisation (IVF) will be permitted for up to three cycles among women with reimbursement of a maximum of Rs 65,000 each cycle.<br /><br /> However, the department has considered infertility a problem peculiar to women, as it is silent on male infertility. In other words, ‘barren’ male employees will not be reimbursed for treatment that they may undergo.<br /><br />As per the CGHS regulations, requests for IVR treatment will be considered only on the basis of advice from the head of department of gynaecology and obstetrics of a government medical institution; the treatment may be allowed on case to case basis in private medical institutions, which have the equipment and trained manpower for carrying out the procedure.<br /><br /> The rules reqiure clear evidence of failure of conventional treatment before permitting IVR procedure. Women employees undergoing IVF should be be in the age group 21-39 to avail reimbursement. <br /><br />Further, the emploiyee seeking the reimbursement should be married and living with her husband. The reimbursable amount of Rs 65,000 per cycle would be inclusive of cost of drugs, disposables and monitoring cost during IVR procedure. There will be one-time permission for availing IVF treatment consisting of three cycles in total. <br /><br />The irony is DPAR officials were blissfully unaware of the existence of a Bill guiding infertility treatment - the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill 2010 pending in Parliament. <br /><br />According to senior gynaecologist and obstetrician of a government hospital in the City, none of the government hospitals in the State have IVF procedure facility. This means that the government is enabling its staff to avail infertility treatment available in private institutions that are not covered by any existing regulation.<br /><br />Dr Kamini Rao, member of the committee that drafted the Bill, who is also the medical director of Bangalore Assisted Conception Centre says besides guidelines issued by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for assisted reproductive technology centres (ART), there is no regulation as such for IVF treatment in India at present. <br /><br /></p>
<p>The State Cabinet on Thursday approved reimbursement of infertility treatment to government employees by considering ‘barrenness’ a ‘disease’ by giving its consent to the Karnataka Government Servants' (Medical Attendance) (amended) regulation, 2012.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sources in the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) said State has adopted CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) rules for the said regulation to be implemented for the State government employees and has modified it according to their requirement. <br /><br />Officials of the DPAR department said infertility treatment including Invitro fertilisation (IVF) will be permitted for up to three cycles among women with reimbursement of a maximum of Rs 65,000 each cycle.<br /><br /> However, the department has considered infertility a problem peculiar to women, as it is silent on male infertility. In other words, ‘barren’ male employees will not be reimbursed for treatment that they may undergo.<br /><br />As per the CGHS regulations, requests for IVR treatment will be considered only on the basis of advice from the head of department of gynaecology and obstetrics of a government medical institution; the treatment may be allowed on case to case basis in private medical institutions, which have the equipment and trained manpower for carrying out the procedure.<br /><br /> The rules reqiure clear evidence of failure of conventional treatment before permitting IVR procedure. Women employees undergoing IVF should be be in the age group 21-39 to avail reimbursement. <br /><br />Further, the emploiyee seeking the reimbursement should be married and living with her husband. The reimbursable amount of Rs 65,000 per cycle would be inclusive of cost of drugs, disposables and monitoring cost during IVR procedure. There will be one-time permission for availing IVF treatment consisting of three cycles in total. <br /><br />The irony is DPAR officials were blissfully unaware of the existence of a Bill guiding infertility treatment - the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill 2010 pending in Parliament. <br /><br />According to senior gynaecologist and obstetrician of a government hospital in the City, none of the government hospitals in the State have IVF procedure facility. This means that the government is enabling its staff to avail infertility treatment available in private institutions that are not covered by any existing regulation.<br /><br />Dr Kamini Rao, member of the committee that drafted the Bill, who is also the medical director of Bangalore Assisted Conception Centre says besides guidelines issued by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for assisted reproductive technology centres (ART), there is no regulation as such for IVF treatment in India at present. <br /><br /></p>
