Angioplasty stents cheaper now, but hospitals trick patients to deny benefit
Synopsis
The price of bare metal stents had come down to Rs.7200 from Rs. 23500 after the NPPA decision. The drug-eluting stents and biodegradable stents are now priced Rs. 29,600 as against Rs.5500 to Rs. 1.9lakh before the price regulation. But the stent suppliers have pulled the products off the market, creating fake shortage.
In a move that was widely welcomed, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixed ceiling price for cardiac stents, cutting the cost of the life-saving devices by 85%. But some private hospitals in Kerala have found an easy way to deny the benefit to patients- charging high for in-patient services and offering packages!
Cosmo Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram charged Rs.130693.00 as IP charges alone after inserting a single stent the other day. When questioned, they slashed it to Rs.1 lakh!
The hospital authorities, however, justified it as the cost for other services. This is not an isolated case. Many hospitals are ‘making up’ the loss incurred by the tab on stent prices by charging heavily on other categories. Another way to bypass the cut in stent prices is to More hospitals have shifted to offer a ‘package’ so that they won’t be liable provide a detailed bill to the patient.
Moreover, suppliers have stopped selling good quality stents to subvert the NPPA decision.
The price of bare metal stents had come down to Rs.7200 from Rs. 23500 after the NPPA decision. The drug-eluting stents and biodegradable stents are now priced Rs. 29,600 as against Rs.5500 to Rs. 1.9lakh before the price regulation. Foreign stent makers and their suppliers in Kerala say that they cannot sell their products at such a low price. Some even pulled off their stents from the market.
The state drug controller had warned against hoarding and withdrawing stents from the market. But the nexus of stent makers, suppliers and private hospitals are trying to torpedo the much awaited NPPA decision. Public health activists had cautioned against such attempts just after the NPPA decision was out. They had demanded the state government to keep a strict vigil against it.
Foreign players dominate almost sixty per cent of the stent market in India. The average cost of imported stent is between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 15,000. The importers, distributors and hospitals add 100-120% margin, making the price soar to Rs.50,000 to Rs. 2 Lakh. The NPPA order is a welcome step to stop this practice, said Dr B Iqbal, former Vice Chancellor of Kerala University.
As per the statistics by the National Intervention Council of Cardiology Society of India, the country used Rs. 6.3 lakh stents in 2015, and spent Rs.3,784 crores on them. In 2016, the total hospital expenses for stent and angioplasty is over Rs.7,000 crores, which is 34% of the total budgetary allocation for the Health Ministry, Dr B Iqbal noted.
Meanwhile, the public health activists have raised a demand that the government should take reigns in its hand and produce stents in public sector to stop the exploitation by private companies and hospitals.