BRATISLAVA, July 7, (WEBNOVINY) — Parliament voted on Thursday to send to the second reading the draft bill on the scope and conditions of payments for drugs, health aids and dietetic foods. The amendment contains referencing of the prices of drugs at the level of the second least expensive medications in the EU, categorizing special medical materials, as well as introducing a temporary and conditional categorization, or changes, concerning the entry of generic medications into the market. Following its approval in the third reading and after the president signs it, the bill will come into effect in October of this year. Originally, the changes were to become effective as soon as mid-September.
The aim of the draft is to curb prices of pharmaceuticals for patients and to use those funds saved for increasing the quality of healthcare. After the reform is adopted, prices of pharmaceuticals could drop to the second lowest level in the EU, while currently they cannot exceed the average of the six lowest prices within the EU. Savings during the first year are expected to reach about EUR 75 million. The big change is the proposed categorization of special medical materials, an area which has not yet been regulated.
The Health Ministry argues that the draft creates space for prompter entry of drugs onto the Slovak market. It counts on publication of the list of categorized drugs on the first day of the calendar month, which enables it to include new medications in the categorization twelve times a year. According to new rules, health insurance companies should also be participants in the categorization and, thus, play an active role in the process of setting drug prices and payments for medications.
In the debate before the vote on the bill, ex-health minister Richard Rasi, who sits in parliament for the opposition party SMER-SD, said he believes that the draft bill will enter the history of the Slovak heath sector as the “law on death”. He said that it would reduce accessibility of drugs for patients in Slovakia. He criticized tougher rules for referencing drugs prices, voicing concern about their possible re-export. Rasi also does not like changes in payments for innovative drugs. He alleges that the change is being instituted to prevent the entry of expensive drugs on the market. He slammed, as well, the planned decreasing of producer prices every time a new indication is introduced. He also criticized what he described as the public being denied access to sittings of the categorization commission. The draft also offers advantages to health insurers throughout the entire process, said the ex-minister.
SITA