Lok Sabha Question No. 1019 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-22
Subject: Affordable Medical Equipment to Patients
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Nalin Kumar Kateel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1019 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 nd  July, 2022

## Affordable Medical Equipment to Patients

## 1019. SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is providing affordable/ cheap cardiac stents and other medical equipment to the patients;
- (b) if so, the details of the scheme being implemented to serve this objective thereof;
- (c) the total number of patients who have benefitted from the scheme during the last three years;
- (d) whether the Government has received any suggestions/complaints to make the scheme more flexible to cover the deserving beneficiaries in large number; and
- (e) if so, the response of the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SHRI BHAGWANTH KHUBA)

(a) to (c): National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is mandated with the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri - Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPM-JAY).  The  Scheme  provides  an  annual  health  cover  of  Rs.  5  Lakhs  per  eligible beneficiary  family  for  secondary  and  tertiary  care  hospitalizations  corresponding  to  1,949 treatment procedures across 27 specialties. The treatment packages under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY cover for the cost of implants to certain procedures.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) had on 13 th February 2017 fixed the ceiling price of Bare Metal Stents and Drug Eluting Stents as per provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 at ₹7,260 for Bare Metal Stents and ₹29,600 for Drug Eluting Stents (including BVS/ Biodegradable). The current ceiling price, based on revision of WPI, for the Coronary Stents with effect from 30 th March 2022 is as under:

|   Sl. No | Type                                                                                                            | Ceiling Price   |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|
|        1 | Bare Metal Stents (BMS)                                                                                         | Rs. 9,373.03/-  |
|        2 | Drug Eluting Stents (DES) including metallic DES And Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS)/Biodegradable Stents | Rs. 34,128.13/- |

The hospitals cannot charge the patients more than the ceiling price fixed by NPPA. Further, to facilitate availability and ensure affordability, NPPA has capped the trade margin for medical equipment, viz., Pulse Oximeter, Glucometer, BP Monitor, Nebulizer and Digital Thermometer vide notification dated 13 th July, 2021.

As informed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, as on 21 st July 2022, more than 3.63 Crore hospital admissions amounting to over Rs. 42,880 Crores have been authorized under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY. The authorized hospital admissions for the previous three financial years from FY 2019/20 to FY 2021/22 are as follows:

| Financial Year   |   No. of authorized hospital admissions (in Lakhs) |
|------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 2019-20          |                                              80.33 |
| 2020-21          |                                              80.71 |
| 2021-22*         |                                             144.88 |

*Note: - Hospital admissions data for Rajasthan and Telangana for FY 2021-22 is sourced directly from the respective State Health Agencies.

Further, the authorized hospital admissions for the previous three financial years from FY 2019/20 to FY 2021/22, involving the use of cardiac stents or implants, is as follows:

| Financial Year   |   No. of authorized hospital admissions (in Lakhs) |
|------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 2019-20          |                                               1.28 |
| 2020-21          |                                               1.04 |
| 2021-22          |                                               1.63 |

(d) & (e): As per available records, no such suggestions/ complaints have been received by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.

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