Pharma Companies Ready to Introduce 2nd Brand for Government Healthcare Schemes

The launch of the much-awaited healthcare programme – “Ayushman Bharat” is changing the dynamics of the healthcare sector in India as a majority of the players and MNC’s are keen to participate in this programme. The flagship programme is coined as the world’s largest government-aided that aims to benefit around 50 core citizens. With companies like Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma and Abbott proposing to launch a ‘second brand’ that are low-priced than the original products, this move can bring huge relief for the economically backward families. Sources believe that by introducing these second-brands into the Ayushman health scheme would definitely be a gigantic step in eradicating illnesses from India. If implemented, this can erase the debt trap faced by the poor families in case of medical urgencies.

At a recently concluded interaction between the US India Business Council and the National Health Agency (NHA), USIBC has put forth some strategic ideas and suggestion that includes creating “policy provisions” that ultimately exempts the products from price referencing and hence lowering the costs of these drugs. The other suggestion was to conduct screening camps to identify the patients that would help the government to prepare a steady database. As the government plans to digitalize the records of every person into the national healthcare database, having screening camps will definitely be a game-changer in this regard.

Labeled as Modicare, the Ayushman scheme is a health care programme that will cover up to 10 core families providing coverage up to 5 lakh per family. Along with government-run institutions, various private medical establishments are been listed to offer cashless treatment to poor families. With the references from USIBC, this healthcare programme can be a trendsetter for the other developing nations as well.