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Tag: pharmaceuticals
According to internet edition of daily Hospodárske noviny from 12/01/2012 the representatives of patients with cancer of colon and rectum complained to the Ministry of Health. The reason: problem with providing modern cancer treatment in Liptovský Mikuláš hospital. Civic association Europacolon is asking the minister to respond to arisen situation. Association is also asking the ministry to deal with the solution of long-term situation of unavailability of targeted therapy, which allegedly resulted from the change of financing of anticancer pharmaceuticals in autumn 2010.
According to Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik there is enough pharmaceuticals for patients with cancer in Slovakia. He reacted to the shortage of chemotherapeutic pharmaceuticals in hospital in Banská Bystrica, where on Wednesday instead of treatment patients were sent home. Minister wants the Healthcare Surveillance Authority to check the practice of both hospital and doctor, as he claims that according to available information the mistake was done by them. MoH knew about the shortage of pharmaceuticals already in December and should ensure their special import, but hospital in Banská Bystrica allegedly did not ask for it.
Increased payments for outpatient doctors, announced by the Association of private physicians, is not a result of current negotiations. Outpatient doctors acquired the increasing of payments by fulfilling of the agreement concluded with Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa in July 2011. The state insurance company promised that doctors, who are the members of civic association Zdravita, will get the increased per-capita and the price of point in case that they will reduce the amount of prescribed pharmaceuticals by 5%. The project will run until July 2012 and its results are evaluated quarterly.
From the beginning of 2012 there should be 52 new pharmaceuticals on Slovak market. Now, the reimbursement list issued by the Ministry of Health contains 5 515 drugs. More than half of them are fully reimbursed without any patient's co-payment. Head of the MoH pharmaceutical policy department claims that copayments are increasing only in group of pharmaceuticals without clearly proven and confirmed effect according to the recent medical studies or in cases, where producers did not reduce the price while there are alternatives to these pharmaceuticals with no or socially acceptable co-payments.
Internet edition of daily Pravda (10/01/2012) evaluated promises of the Ministry of Health that patients will have less expensive pharmaceuticals. Number of pharmaceuticals that are cheaper from the New Year, however, increased only slightly. After last January̍s categorization out of 5 500 pharmaceuticals only cca 50 are cheaper. 32 of them are in the group without patient's co-payment, 18 are in the group of pharmaceuticals with co-payment from € 1 to 2.
According to daily Sme from 12/1/2012 paediatricians claim that proposal of Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik will not solve the problem with mandatory vaccination. If the system will not change, there is a risk that doctors will not have vaccines even from February. According to the President of Association of GPs for Children and Adolescents Kvetoslava Prcúchová doctors are considering strike actions. Doctors stopped vaccinating and since December they are postponing the vaccination-appointments with patients. The reason is the legislative change which obliges them to purchase the vaccines in the pharmacy and subsequently store them. According to the doctors the change resulted in more administration and logistical and financial complications.
According to the internet edition of daily Pravda from 15/12/2011 doctors stopped to vaccinate the patients. They complain the way of reimbursement for vaccines has changed and health insurance companies should reimburse the vaccines directly to doctors. The law, however, does not allow doctors to buy vaccines from any member of the drug chain – that is from producer, the registration holder, distributor, or from the pharmacy. Doctors are also not entitled to collect the surcharges from patients and not all of the vaccines are fully covered by the insurance company. Ministry of Health recommended doctors to purchase vaccines from health insurance company, which will order the vaccines and pay for them.
From the beginning of the next year the patients' co-payments for medical devices will be reduced. Ministry of Health has finally agreed with the supply points and suppliers of medical devices. Notified reduction of business margin to medical devices by 6.5% will became real from January the 1st 2012. This step according to Ministry means a savings in total amount of € 4,9 million for health insurance companies and about € 135 000 for patients from co-payments. Reduction of business margin is connected with the new Act on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices.
Slovak Chamber of Pharmacists does not like the new Act on Pharmaceuticals and wants to change it before it comes into force. As the fundamental problem pharmacists consider the legalization of pharmacy networks, introduction of loyalty schemes or the reduction of powers of a professional pharmacists in the exercise of his/her profession. According to the President of Slovak Chamber of Pharmacists introduction of loyalty schemes will support the marketing business activities in the loyalty pharmacies. Representatives of Slovak Chamber of Pharmacists are planning to meet the Parliamentarians and explain them the real consequences of this Act on the pharmaceutical system.
According to daily Pravda from 11/11/2011 our market could miss the wheelchairs, crutches, special medical supplies and hospital instrumentation since next year. According to distributors this might be the consequence of the new pricing measure of the Ministry of Health. After the reduction of margin it will not be allegedly interesting for distributors to deliver the devices to supply points, respectively they will start to deliver products of inferior quality.
