Filenews 27 January 2023 - by Marilena Panayi
Changes either upwards or downwards in the amount they pay to pharmacies to secure their medicines through the GHS, will be seen by citizens from next Wednesday. This is due to the fact that, based on the legislation, the Ministry of Health has proceeded with the annual update of the price list of medicines and this update, as happens every year, has also affected the prices of some pharmaceutical preparations included in the GHS list.
Specifically, during the procedure followed by the Pharmaceutical Services of the Ministry of Health, based on the pricing system followed by Cyprus, the prices of 2951 medicines were updated. In 1645 formulations a decrease in price was observed and in 502 drugs an increase was observed.
In the total price list after the update, a decrease of 2.52% was recorded. In formulations that show a decrease in their price, the percentage of the average decrease is 5.86% while for drugs that show an increase, the percentage of average increase is 4.38%.
These variations were also transferred to the GHS list of pharmaceutical products with the number of drugs affected being much smaller since the price list includes retail prices while in the GHS other procedures are followed. Specifically, this year's changes in the price list resulted in the contributions of 270 drugs provided through the System being affected, either upwards or downwards.
In 170 formulations, as shown by the official data of the HIO, there was an increase and in the remaining 100 decrease. That is, for medicines that show an increase (170) citizens from Wednesday have to pay a higher amount than what they have paid so far and for medicines that show a decrease, citizens will pay a smaller amount than they have been giving until now to get them from GHS pharmacies.
These changes are due to the fact that there is the possibility that a drug that, for example, shows an increase in price, will change its classification in the list of its respective drugs in the GHS.
For example: For a medicine that is currently the cheapest on the list of corresponding medicines of the General Health System, the contribution paid by citizens is zero. From Wednesday there is the possibility that this preparation will become the second or third cheapest on the list of corresponding drugs (since its price has increased) and thus impose a contribution to secure it.
If this happens and the preparation will no longer be the cheapest (so as not to impose a contribution), the citizen will be required to pay the difference between the price of this preparation and the price of the cheapest corresponding drug. The difference in price may be small but may in some cases be large, although in the cases of similar formulations there are usually no serious fluctuations.
A similar change will be observed in the case of drugs that will show a decrease in their contributions. That is, for a preparation for which the citizen is currently paying a €5 contribution, he may not have to pay any amount from Wednesday or may have to pay an amount less than €5, depending on the ranking of the preparation in the list of corresponding drugs of the GHS.
According to HIO data, increases in contributions will range from €0.01 to €16.50 while reductions from €0.01 to €13.66.
That is, a citizen who, for example, now pays a €20 contribution for a medicine, may be required from Wednesday to pay, if this drug belongs to the preparations that show an increase, up to €36.50. If the drug belongs to the category of formulations that show reductions of up to €13.66 less, then its new contribution may fall to €6.34.
In any case, if the beneficiary chooses, after consultation with his doctor or pharmacist, to change the preparation and get the cheapest, then he will pay only €1 as a co-payment and no amount as a contribution.
What citizens need to know about prices and contributions
It is important for citizens to know that a contribution is paid for the provision of medicines through the GHS, only in cases where more than one corresponding formulation is included in the System. That is, formulations that can replace each other. For medicines for which there is no corresponding/exchangeable medicine, no contribution is paid to the pharmacy and the citizen pays only €1 co-payment for the execution of his prescription.
In the case of the equivalent/exchangeable medicines, the GHS gives the opportunity to the citizen to choose the cheapest of the category and pay only €1 co-payment without paying any other amount as a contribution. In fact, according to the GHS Regulations, the pharmacist is obliged, before executing a prescription, to inform the citizen about the cheapest option available to him. If the citizen chooses to take the cheapest formulation, the process in the GHS software is done automatically by the pharmacist without the need for any other action by the beneficiary of the System.
The doctor also has the right to prescribe, if he thinks it is right, the cheapest fungible preparation, so citizens can also turn to their doctors if there are increases in the contributions they have to pay and wish to get rid of them.
For this reason, the HIO has intensified its preparation in recent days, with the aim of informing all doctors and ensuring that they properly inform their patients that during the execution of their next prescription they will be able to exchange the preparation they have been receiving so far for the cheapest on the GHS list.
Regarding the way in which the prices of medicines are set in Cyprus, it is stated that the price list, which is revised every year, includes the retail selling prices.
Prices are derived from the average of the maximum wholesale prices of specific reference countries plus 3% for import costs. The countries used are: Expensive countries Austria, Denmark, Germany, middle countries, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Sweden, cheap countries, France, Greece, Portugal.
The update process takes into account the prices in these countries at that time.
INTERVENTION
Correct information
The fact that with the implementation of the GHS, the amounts that each of us pays to secure our medicines is undoubtedly much smaller than what we paid before the GHS. In order to properly understand the changes that are made every year in the amounts we pay as a contribution, we must be properly and timely informed. At the same time, we must understand that we also have the cheapest option at our disposal, which does not mean that it is inferior and we can always contact our doctor to guide us properly. Finally, we should be aware that these changes are not due to the GHS. The GHS is simply affected.
Website for price lists - in English. Currently only showing prices at December 2021
