NPPA Mandates Transparency in Angioplasty Billing with Separate Costs for Non-Stent Components: MoS Anupriya Patel

Responding to concerns raised in the Lok Sabha, Patel detailed actions taken to address potential exploitation in billing for non-stent components. She highlighted measures implemented by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to ensure transparency in billing and adherence to price regulations, including a mandate for hospitals to itemize non-stent costs. Patel also detailed findings from a 2023 study affirming that price caps have improved the accessibility of cardiac stents for patients in need.

The Member of Parliament, S Venkatesan raised questions about reports from the NPPA indicating that some hospitals have increased costs of non-stent components to offset losses from price caps on coronary stents. He inquired about government actions to enforce compliance, reasons for inflated bills, and measures to address these issues. Additionally, he sought details on mechanisms within NPPA to monitor violations and asked whether studies had been conducted to ensure that the price caps benefit patients by improving accessibility and affordability.

In response to the queries, Patel explained that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), under Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), issued notification in 2018, whereby it was mandated that apart from the details of coronary stents, all the healthcare institutions performing angioplasty should also mention the details of billing costs related to non-stent components like cardiac catheters, balloon catheters and guide wire separately along with name of the company, brand name, batch number and specifications in order to bring in greater transparency in the billing and for effective monitoring of the maximum retail prices (MRPs) under the relevant provisions of DPCO, 2013.

“Further, non-stent components such as balloon catheters, delivery catheters etc., are non-schedule medical devices and as per the provisions of the DPCO, 2013 these non-scheduled medical devices are not allowed to increase their MRP by more than 10% of the MRP during the preceding 12 months. NPPA monitors the Form V/VI filled by the importers and manufacturers, wherein, the companies report the MRP of the coronary stents,” the Minister added.

The Minister of State (MoS) further stated that DoP commissioned a study in the year 2023, titled “Impact of the Drugs (Price Control) Order (DPCO, 2013) on the Price of Eight Medical Devices, on Industry and Consumers in Terms of Availability and Affordability”. The Coronary stents were also included in the eight medical devices in this study. The study, inter alia, mentions that the fixation of ceiling prices on cardiac/coronary stents has stimulated the availability and distribution of cardiac stents, making them more accessible to patients in need.