Price indexin decision, the reduction in prices for reimbursable medicines starts march 1st

Price indexin decision, the reduction in prices for reimbursable medicines

Reimbursable prescription prices will decrease about 5% starting March 1st, 2019. The decision was taken on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers.

Health Minister, Ogerta Manastirliu, said that the number of citizens, whether they are insured, uninsured, disabled or required economic assistance will be increased and will be treated with free prescriptions under the new reimbursement scheme.

The Government's decision to index the prices of reimbursable prescriptions will have a budgetary effect of $7.5 million dollars, which will be used to expand the list of free medicines.

According to Manastirliu, thanks to government policies for universal coverage, 498,000 citizens, including the uninsured, will receive reimbursable prescriptions free of charge. 

However, this decision was met with skepticism by many pharmacists who say they need more time to replace their stock.

Manastirliu stated: “We save around 24 million dollars a year on uninsured citizens, who have been paying out of their pockets to be treated with prescriptions for chronic diseases.” 

Manastirliu stressed that the benefits from the reimbursement scheme will increase through new agreements, stating: 

“As we did for the 100% coverage on treatments for breast cancer patients through special agreements, we will continue this year with a list for the 2019 prescriptions, which will provide a wider coverage for those with chronic illnesses.” 

The decision was approved yesterday by the government but to ensure quality of services, all necessary measures will need to take place to reflect the prices of new prescriptions.

EMISIONET