According to representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, the reimbursement act in the proposed wording will increase the costs of their activities, which in turn will paradoxically translate into … an increase in the prices of drugs in pharmacies.
The defense of this thesis is influenced, among others, by records about the so-called pay-back. The National He alth Fund (NFZ) will allocate 17 percent. budget fordrug reimbursement . However, if the NHF expenditure exceeds this amount, a tax of 3% will be imposed on companies benefiting from the refund. revenues from salesreimbursed drugs . As a result, the company's income will decrease, which will have to cover it, for example by limiting expenses on research on new preparations or increasingprices of non-reimbursed drugs . In addition, the payment is to be made in the form of an administrative decision (imposed from above), although it must be admitted that during the discussions in the Senate committee the provisions were relaxed and now the Minister of He alth will not call for payment of a company that previously submitted to enforcement in the form of a notarial deed.
The Reimbursement Act introduces fixed wholesale margins
Experts also criticize the rigid wholesale margins, set in the project at a level lowered to 5 percent. With the ever increasing operating costs and payment gridlocks that appear more and more often, they will lead to the elimination of some players from the market. In turn, this will reduce competition and thus reduce the quality of service for the pharmacy market, which is difficult after all.
Slippery line of responsibility
Negative in reception is the risk-sharing mechanism proposed in the act. In short, its operation boils down to answering the question of when for the treatment of a patient with a specific therapeutic condition, the payer (here the Ministry of He alth) should stop paying and the producer will start financing. While in other countries it is carried out on the basis of agreements between the producer and the payer, according to the proposal contained in the draft act in Poland, it is to be done by way of an administrative (top-down) decision.
Wrong prescription - the doctor covers the costs of the reimbursement
Doctors, on the other hand, are concerned about the provisions which indicate that in the event that a prescription for a reimbursed drug is issued to an uninsured person, they will have to cover the costs of the reimbursement themselves. The case is so serious thatThe 30th Regional Assembly of Doctors of the Regional Medical Chamber in Warsaw recommends doctors not to conclude contracts for the issuance of reimbursed prescriptions from the National He alth Fund after January 1, 2012, if the new reimbursement act enters into force. As the chairman of OIL in Warsaw explains, it is not possible to burden the doctor with the necessity to verify the right to benefits, especially when patients are waiting for their turn outside the office.