NPPA called for better regulation of the country’s massive private healthcare industry on Friday to ensure government efforts to cut prices benefit patients. To cut the cost of procedures such as angioplasty and knee surgery, India’s National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has dramatically reduced prices of knee implants and cardiac stents in recent months. The move has been hailed as a major effort by Indian Prime Minister to make healthcare affordable, but it has been met with stiff resistance from healthcare providers.
Several hospitals across the country have hiked prices of related services which are an essential part of such surgeries - like doctors’ fees and hospital stay costs - to make up for the price caps, according to industry insiders and activists. These actions risk impeding the efforts of the NPPA, as it considers bringing more medical devices under price…
