BENGALURU: Aimed at providing affordable, quality healthcare for all, Union Minister for Fertilisers and Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar on Friday issued a notification which sets a cap on the prices of coronary stents. The step will bring down the cost of coronary stents by nearly 85 per cent, the minister said.
The prices of Bare Metal Stents (BMS), having 10 per cent market share, have been capped at Rs 7,260 and Drug-Eluting stents (DES), having 90 per cent market share, at Rs 29,600. These prices are exclusive of VAT and other local taxes.
The minister stated that since most of the states have 5 per cent VAT on stents, the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of BMS and DES would be Rs 7,623 and Rs 31,080, respectively. He said, “National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the prices within 60 days as required.”
Stating that the step is a decisive action on the unethical margins charged at each stage in the supply chain of coronary stents, Ananth Kumar stated that the new prices are not likely to have a much adverse impact on industry. The average MRP in the market for BMS was Rs 45,000 and for DES Rs 1,21,000.
This has been reduced to Rs 7,623 for BMS and Rs 31,080 for DES. Thus, based on price reduction, patients will get an average benefit of 80-90,000 per stent. The total price reduction in one year will be about Rs 4,450 crores, he added.