GUWAHATI: Impact on Covid-19 treatment expenses after the latest GST cuts on corona-related medicines and equipment is expected to be visible only after a week, said principal secretary of Assam health department Anurag Goel on Sunday.
He said the government will not trim the health budget and will extend additional benefits with the sum of money to be saved following the tax cut.
The symptomatic patients undergoing treatment for Covid with costly medicines are likely to benefit more from the move. Their numbers are only about 10% of the total active cases in the state.
“Some of the drugs and consumables will become cheaper but the effect will be seen only in about a week because new rates will be effective, then the products will be sold by the companies down the line” Goel told TOI.
Several senior health officials are still in the dark about the proportion of the components, on which tax relief will be given, so far as cost of treatment is concerned. Even if GST relief is given for costly injections like Remdesivir, which became a life-saving drug during the pandemic, 90% of the patients do not require to undergo costly medications.
“Most of the patients are treated with only azithral and paracetamol because they are asymptomatic. Hardly they need anything. It’s only 10% who need costly medicines like Remdesivir and other medicines,” a health official said.
The state government is not expecting huge benefits from the Centre’s move, as more than 90% of asymptomatic Covid patients are being given medicines which are normally required by non-Covid patients. “The medicines that are being given to most of the positive patients are not Covid-specific,” the official added.
Nevertheless, Goel said the medical team, overseeing the Covid treatment, will be asked to work out the possible impact of the GST cut on asymptomatic, mildly symptomatic and severely symptomatic patients. “The benefits of the GST-cut will depend on the type of patient,” he added. Decision has been taken to cut tax for medicines on mucormycosis or black fungus, to nil. But there has been only two reported cases of black fungus in the state.
Goel however said that if GST-cut covers PPE kits and other relatively costly materials, the overall health system will definitely benefit. “But the fact remains that the government is not making money out of this exercise. The Assam government will then provide more facilities, if we can save something after the GST-cut,” he added.
Health sources, both from the government and private sector, feel that the tax cut decision should have been taken before the second wave. As the Covid situation is showing drastic improvement in Assam, known to be the healthcare capital of the northeast, the decision may prove to be too little too late, said private hospitals.
Dr Abhijit Neog, who represents the state chapter of the Association of Private Hospitals in India, said the high-end fixed assets like RT-PCR test equipments have already been procured by the private hospitals at the directive of the government. “Revenue expenditure for PPE kits, face shield etc is expected to come down but it is expected to be minimal, if we consider the huge expenditure borne by the hospitals after increasing the payments of the health staff during Covid times,” Neog said.
Even as medical colleges and dedicated government hospitals with bigger numbers of patients will benefit to some extent, in states like Assam private hospitals will reap little benefits. “Each of the private hospitals in the state are treating below 100 Covid patients. There is nothing to celebrate and we won’t be able to save much,” he said. “Starting from biomedical waste disposal to increased payment of the ward boys and health staff for risking their lives during Covid treatment, we are paying much more than the relief to come from the GST cut,” Neog added.
