The Association of Generic Medicines Manufacturers in Romania signaled on Thursday that the new proposal of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance House regarding the decrease in the compensation level for a large number of medicines will affect millions of patients in Romania.
According to the organization, the decrease in the level of compensation for a significant number of medicines will lead to „an additional financial impact” for people suffering from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or undergoing antibiotic treatments.
According to a press release from the APMGR, some drugs that currently benefit from 90% reimbursement (List A) would be moved to List B, where reimbursement is only 50%. Also, other drugs from lists A and B could be transferred directly to List D, where reimbursement is only 20%. For drugs from List C, where reimbursement is 100%, „the reimbursement price is being changed” for thousands of products, which could lead to a copayment borne by patients.
„The number of patients affected by this decision is estimated to exceed 10 million; they will have to bear a higher co-payment for the medicines they need, between 6-500 lei/medicine/month. Thus, if the decision is implemented, for widely used medicines such as Rosuvastatin, for which today patients with high cholesterol pay 20 lei out of pocket, they will pay 33 lei, an increase of 65%. For Candesartan, recommended for hypertension, the increase is from 17 to 30 lei. Entecavir, a medicine for chronic hepatitis, from 0 to 32 lei, and for Lenalidomide, which is used to treat multiple myeloma, the increase is from 0 to 237 lei”, claims the same source.
According to APMGR, the decision comes after Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan „showed himself to be supportive” of cheap treatments.
„The decision to reduce the level of compensation will affect millions of patients who depend on these treatments daily. In an already difficult economic context, any increase in costs is painfully felt by the patient. We call for an open dialogue to find balanced solutions that ensure everyone’s access to the necessary medicines,” said Daniel Bran, president of the Romanian Generic Medicines Manufacturers Association, quoted in the press release.
In this context, APMGR requests a meeting with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
In the opinion of APMGR representatives, the access of generic and biosimilar medicines to the List of unconditionally compensated medicines (corresponding to innovative medicines that have expired patents and are in a Cost-Volume contract) is made with a long delay, up to 1.5-2 years.
APMGR also states that it requested the amendment of the legislation, in order to immediately include generic drugs on the Unconditional Compensation List, in order to offer patients multiple therapeutic options and budget optimization.
„We can conclude that such measures do not aim to support patients’ access to generic medicines. Romania benefits from a strong generic medicine manufacturing industry, with 41 production facilities, which through intra- and extra-community exports contribute to balancing the trade balance. Moreover, generic medicines entered the market in the period 2016-2023 generated budgetary optimization of over 1 billion euros for the health system. However, the measures proposed by the authorities continue to exert pressure on the generic medicines segment, despite the fact that they represent less than 20% of total medicine spending,” the same source shows.
AGERPRES
