Chiranjeevi Yojana: Stent price reduced; hospitals protest

JAIPUR: The stent placement has gotten cheaper for patients under the Mukhya Mantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana. The state government reduced the rates of domestic stents to Rs 12,500 from Rs 31,600, while the prices of foreign-made and FDA-approved stents are now Rs 23,625.

The government’s move to reduce the prices has not gone down well with hospitals. They alleged that the price was already low and it was not possible to perform stent placement at the new price.

The government has reduced the cost of stents manufactured by Indian companies from Rs 31,600 to Rs 12,500 under the Chiranjeevi Scheme.

Whereas for multinational companies, the price has been fixed at Rs 23625 per stent. The hospitals will get Rs 23625 per stent from the government insurance company.

The Indian manufacturers of stents fear that this would cause hospitals to use stents manufactured by foreign companies as their price is higher. The hospitals would make more money by using stents made by MNCs.

More than 6,500 stent placements take place under the Chiranjeevi Yojana in Rajasthan. Earlier, the stent price was RS 31,600 for both domestic and foreign-made stents. Now the state government put different price tags, causing discomfort to the domestic companies. The decision might cause the Rs 20 crore/month business to fall in the lap of foreign companies.

The central government had fixed the rate of India-made stents at Rs 31,600 to create a level-playing field for Indian companies.

The private hospitals alleged that they were not consulted by the government before announcing the change in rates.

“The rates were already low. It’s now not possible to perform stent placement at the new rates. We are going to protest against the decision,” said an officer at a private hospital.

Many private hospitals didn’t perform angioplasty in protest, except for in emergency cases on Saturday.