Cipla plans to partner Ayushman Bharat; start dialogue with insurance firms

There is a plan to identify a list of essential medicines, including antibiotics, painkillers, etc, which the company may supply to the Ayushman Bharat-empanelled hospitals.

Drug maker Cipla plans to collaborate with the government to not only supply low-cost essential medicines to the Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat — Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) — but also for upskilling the entire health care ecosystem around it. The company also plans to have branded packaging for medicines that would be sold under the scheme, besides opening dialogues with the insurance companies and hospitals empanelled in the scheme. 

The firm, which had changed the global HIV-AIDS scenario with its drugs priced less than a dollar per day, plans to tie up with the government to ensure access