A September study conducted by Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) State Price Monitoring Resource Unit highlights price differences of as much as 2,841% between procurement prices and declared MRPs for certain hospital consumables. FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has consequently sought intervention from ministry of chemicals and fertilisers' Department of Pharmaceuticals and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to examine margin rationalisation and greater price oversight.
The numbers are startling. But the bigger issue is information asymmetry. In most markets, consumers exercise power through choice. We compare prices, brands and quality. Healthcare is different. A patient lying in an ICU does not ask whether another hospital can supply a cheaper oxygen mask. A family rushing someone into emergency care does not bargain over the price of a catheter.
