Why is angioplasty expensive in India?
Q: My mother, who is in India, has a cardiac problem that may require angioplasty. I have consulted two or three doctors who have given different quotes for the procedure. I am unable to understand the reason for the high quotations. I read in the Press that some action is being taken by the government. Is that true? — S.R. Kotian, Sharjah A: Recently, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has issued a notification to put limits on the price of stents, which are used for performing angioplasty. The limit on the price of bare metal stents is fixed at ₹7,260, whereas the limit on the price of drug eluding stents has been capped at ₹29,600. Earlier it was found that different hospitals were charging different prices and the profit margins were as high as 600 per cent.
Stents have been included in the national list of essential medicines in July last year and were added to Schedule 1 of the Drug Prices Control Order so as to bring these products under price control. Hospitals have also been covered in the notification. They have been ordered to separately mention the cost of the coronary stent along with its brand name, name of the manufacturer, batch number and other details when they bill the patients. Since hospitals also function as retailers of stents, they are required to display the prices prominently in the hospital premises as per the Drug Prices Control Order. As a result of this action of the government, the cost of angioplasty in India is expected to come down by almost ₹80,000 to ₹90,000. Q: The Indian government wants to make mobile banking universally acceptable. However, there is not enough broadband connectivity in rural areas. Will this remain a pipe dream? — K.S. Mitra, Abu Dhabi A: The Indian government is moving fast to bring highspeed digital connectivity to most villages of India by the end of 2018. The Department of Telecom has set up the Universal Services Obligation Fund to bring high-speed broadband to the remotest villages of India. The National Optic Fibre Network project was started in April 2015 and will cover quarter million village panchayets by the middle of next year.
The startup eco system is the second-largest in the world. It has state-of-the-art technology which is being upgraded and upscaled to take care of all future needs. It is designed for tough climatic and dusty conditions. In this year’s budget, an additional amount of ₹10,000 crore has been allocated to expand the Bharat Net project in the coming fiscal year 2017-18, which will provide telecom services in rural areas at subsidised rates. Q: Non-performing assets of banks have been increasing, which are generally related to frauds committed by borrowers while availing bank finance. Ultimately the honest borrower has to suffer on account of higher rate of interest being charged to him to cover the possible costs of NPAs. Should not the central bank take remedial action to prevent advances-related frauds? — P. Ramesh, Manama A: The Reserve Bank of India is tightening up its regulatory framework to address concerns pertaining to frauds in the banking sector. It has set up a Central Fraud Registry having a database of frauds of the last thirteen years. The RBI has also decided to create a common pool of forensic audit firms. Audit firms will be evaluated for professional competence and proven track record in forensic and investigative auditing.
Once this pool is created, a bank wanting to appoint such a firm will ask for competitive price bids and appoint the firm expeditiously. This will enable banks to take appropriate action and lodge complaints with law enforcement agencies as soon as the audit report is obtained. The RBI has classified frauds based on the provisions of the Indian Penal Code which covers misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, fraudulent encashment through forged instruments, manipulation of books of account, unauthorised credit facilities extended for illegal gratification, cheating and forgery, and fraudulent transactions involving foreign exchange.