EMIs to make treatment affordable for patients

So far you may have considered EMIs while buying your dream house, car, foreign trip, or for other consumer goods like air-conditioners, refrigerator or plasma TV. Now, it may also be possible to opt for similar options while buying expensive live-saving medicines or paying for medical procedures.

Leading pharmaceutical companies as well as manufacturers of critical medical devices like stents and implants are now exploring innovative marketing tools to sell their expensive products. In fact, many such firms are joining hands with financial institutions to enable consumers to avail of short-term loans or pay in instalments for expensive medicines like cancer and cardiovascular drugs and medical devices like stents and heart valves.

For instance, Abirapro -used in treatment of prostrate cancer, and anti-breast cancer drug Evermil - both marketed by Glenmark Pharma - are available on EMI schemes. The therapy for Abirapro costs anywhere between Rs 25000-30000 per month and Evermil is priced at RS 15000-24,000 per month.

While such treatments are often continued for long, for many patients it is often difficult to either afford the medicine or complete the full treatment because of the high cost. However, with EMI facilities, patients may opt to pay within a tenure of 3 months, 6 months and 9 months for these drugs.

Another leading healthcare company, Medtronic, which develops and manufactures medical devices to treat chronic diseases, has partnered with Maitrika Foundation for its 'Healthy Heart for All' programme, which offers all Medtronic heart devices, such as stents, implantable pacemakers, cathode ray tubes and even complex devices like heart valves and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, on EMIs.

According to a Medtronic spokesperson, patients can access a device by paying 15% of the cost and remaining cost gets financed through easy monthly installments plans for repayment wherein the installment can be starting from as low as Rs 1,000 per month.

Company executives say such loans are generally processed within 1-2 days because mostly patients are in dire need and cannot wait for very long.

"Oncology is a focus therapeutic segment for us, not only in India but also globally. Our efforts will be to continue to expand our cancer patient base and make a difference in their lives," said Sujesh Vasudevan, President and Head - India Business at Glenmark.

Such schemes have already started gaining popularity among patients and care-givers. Medtronic, which started its scheme with a pilot project in Durgapur (West Bengal) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in 2010, has now scaled up to 30 cities and have partnered with 120 hospitals. In last five years, the company under the scheme has disbursed around 550 loans. Medtronic is now also planning to extend similar EMI options for some other disease.

Many other multinational pharmaceutical companies, especially those selling products for oncology, cardiovascular or anti-diabetes medicines are exploring similar marketing strategies. Experts say lack of awareness and inappropriate diagnosis, besides affordability issues, often act as hurdles for patients in getting the right treatment.

Indian subsidiary of US-based Merck & Co had also floated a similar scheme in Punjab for its product Interferon, a drug used in treatment of Hepatitis C. When contacted, the company refused to participate in this story.

Source: http://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/policy/emis-to-make-treatment-affordable-for-patients/50737341