Health care costs will skyrocket after the government withdraws tax exemptions for medical devices

ISLAMABAD: As the government remains undecided on continuing the Sehat Sahulat program in the federation areas, it has decided to withdraw exemptions for diagnostic kits and cardiac products, including stents, catheters and dialysis equipment.

The move will ultimately make health care more expensive, health care experts and industry officials warned Saturday.

Additionally, according to charity officials, all exemptions for hospitals and charities have been withdrawn, driving up medical costs by at least 25-30%.

“The government has proposed to withdraw all general sales tax exemptions from the Sixth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act 1990, order numbers 112 and 120, which apply to the healthcare sector. As a result, the cost of all cardiac devices and diagnostic purchases will increase by at least 25-30% and perhaps even more,” Masood Ahmed, chairman of the Health Care Device Association of Pakistan (HDAP), told The News.

He expressed regret that exemptions for all charitable health institutions had been withdrawn, resulting in a 30-40% increase in hospital and laboratory expenses.

“Charity hospitals have limited budgets and the increase in government taxes means they will be able to treat 30% fewer patients,” he said.

According to Masood Ahmed, the cost of home diabetes test strips and laboratory tests for common infections, thalassemia, cancer, hepatitis, dengue and blood banking services will increase significantly, putting a greater financial burden on the people of Pakistan.

In an interview with The News, a senior cardiologist and head of the cardiology department said that the situation is still unclear, but there are many indications that the government has decided to withdraw sales tax exemptions for angioplasty and angiography products, including stents, catheters, sheaths. , wires, cardiac diagnostic equipment, guidewires and contrast lines.

“Similarly, it has been decided to impose a general sales tax on angiography accessories, pacemakers and devices used to treat heart failure, including cables, connectors and accessories. They also proposed imposing a sales tax on electrophysiology products, including catheters, cables, connectors, laser systems, cardiac mapping systems and other products,” said the HDAP chairman, adding that this would result in at least a 25-30% increase in the cost of treating heart disease.

Urging the government to reconsider its decision, Masood Ahmed said: “Nowhere in the world do governments burden the healthcare sector and try to collect revenue from poor patients.” Pakistan, and about 75% of them require stent implantation to save their lives.

“Imposing a sales tax on heart care devices and products will make medical costs unaffordable for most Pakistanis,” he warned.

The government also proposed imposing a sales tax on cardiac surgical products, including oxygenators, cannulas, prosthetic heart valves, lumen valves and artificial limbs and devices.

“We have heard that they have also proposed to levy GST on cardiac angiography machines, echocardiographs and ETT machines, gamma cameras for nuclear cardiology, left ventricular assist devices (LVAD), MRI compatible cardiac monitors, infusion pumps and many other devices and equipment ” he said, warning that this would ultimately increase the suffering of patients in Pakistan.

Philanthropist and CEO of Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN), Prof. Dr. Abdul Bari Khan, said the government has also withdrawn sales tax exemptions for charitable organizations such as Indus Hospitals, which will increase the suffering of poor patients by reducing their cost of ability to treat patients.

“At a time when donations are declining due to the economic meltdown, rolling back exemptions for health care charities is absurd. We share the burden of health care with the government, but if they withdraw waivers for us, it will be to the detriment of both the government and the people of Pakistan,” he added.

“For example, we now have to try to raise R1.25 billion instead of R1 billion due to the withdrawal of sales tax exemptions, which is becoming more difficult with each passing day. Ultimately, this will limit our ability to treat more people,” he maintained.

The owner of a large diagnostic service chain in Pakistan claimed that the government has also withdrawn exemptions for HIV, hepatitis B and C diagnostic kits, diabetes test strips, automatic cell separator kits for platelet collection and many other kits, reagents and equipment. He warned that this would significantly increase the cost of diagnostics in Pakistan.

“On the one hand, the government plans to test 10 million Pakistanis for viral hepatitis and hundreds of thousands for HIV, dengue, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases. On the other hand, it makes diagnostics more expensive, which is unimaginable,” said the owner of the laboratory network.