Drug conversion affects many patients

New discount agreements cause changes in pharmaceuticals

05/07/2012

The statutory health insurance companies have renegotiated their discount agreements with the pharmaceutical manufacturers. As a result, this may mean for patients that they need to switch to a different drug for certain medicines.

Admittedly, the conversion should generally not be associated with any health disadvantages for the patients, since the active ingredients are the same as in the previous preparations. But when buying it can already provide surprises when the pharmacist suddenly reaches into a different drawer than before. „Millions of patients are currently getting used to new discount medicines when they use prescriptions in their pharmacy“, so the current message of the German Pharmacists Association (DAV) in Berlin.

Pharmacies implement discount agreements of the health insurance companies
Some large health insurance companies such as the AOK, the Barmer GEK or the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) have adopted new discount agreements in recent weeks. As a result, millions of patients now have to be prepared to be treated with common medicines, such as high blood pressure and others, in the future with medicines other than their usual ones. Since the statutory health insurance companies have the opportunity to negotiate discounts with the pharmaceutical manufacturers, „The pharmacies reliably implement all discount agreements of the health insurances“, emphasized the DAV chairman Fritz Becker in the current press release. However, Becker also used the occasion for criticism. Come on „again and again to problems with the conversion“ and „An inappropriate selection of manufacturers can lead to supply bottlenecks in the pharmacy or cause confusion among the patients“; criticized the DAV chairman.

Quality of care of patients more important than drug discounts
The head of the German Pharmacists Association therefore appealed to the health insurance: „Put the quality of care of your insured back into the center of your actions, even if there are a few euros less from the industry.“ Over the past few years, the health insurance funds have increasingly made use of the possibilities offered by discount agreements, with the number of corresponding agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers increasing from 9,300 in 2009 to 12,400 in 2010 and 16,400 in 2011. The number of „Discounted Medicines - Measured by their Central Pharmaceutical Numbers (PZN) - increased from 26,900 (2009) and 27,200 (2010) to 28,500 (2011)“, so the press release of the Federal Association of German Pharmacist Associations (ABDA). Correspondingly, the savings of the health insurance funds have increased significantly in the same period. The statutory health insurance companies saved about 850 million euros in 2009 through the discount agreements, in 2010 it was already 1.3 billion euros and in 2011 about 1.6 billion euros, according to the figures of the Federal Ministry of Health. The DAV chairman criticized that for the pharmacies, the consulting costs have significantly increased by the discount agreements and „this additional service in the long term without an adjustment of the fee is not sustainable“ be. (Fp)

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Picture: Rita Thielen