Fee dispute between health insurance & pharmacies

Protest actions of pharmacies in Saxony-Anhalt

20/11/2012

In the fee dispute between pharmacies and statutory health insurance is still no agreement in sight. Now the pharmacies in Saxony-Anhalt have decided to protest. In the pharmacies of the city of Stendal and the district of Sangerhausen will be offered on Wednesday afternoon, only a limited emergency care, reported the Provincial Pharmacists Association (LAV) Saxony-Anhalt in a recent press release.

With the protest action should on the „Disastrous financial situation of pharmacies - especially in rural areas - attentive“ made the chairman of the state apothecary association Saxony-Anhalt, Mathias Arnold. „We need air to breathe and survive“, Arnold continues. If the health insurance companies remain in the negotiations in their previous position, also an extension of the protest actions is conceivable. With the campaign: „What health insurance companies take out is at the expense of your health“ The pharmacies also want to inform patients about what happens if the compulsory discounts, which the pharmacies have to grant to the health insurance, are not taken back. The national pharmacists associations see here the „competent pharmaceutical consultation on the spot by the pharmacy of trust massively endangered.“

Pharmacies and health insurance companies argue about the amount of the compulsory discount
For weeks, the fee dispute between the statutory health insurance and pharmacists. The sticking point is the compulsory rebate, which the health insurance companies receive per dispensed drug from pharmacies. Originally, the discount was 1.75 euros, but it was raised by the legislature because of the strained financial situation in the health insurance for the two years 2011 and 2012 to 2.05 euros. The pharmacist associations consider this increase to be temporary „Sonderopfer“ and call in view of the current billions surpluses with the health insurance companies the original 1.75 euro as basis for negotiation. The statutory health insurance (SHI), however, consider the 2.05 euros as the basis for the negotiations for the year 2013. Since in the dispute over the budget, no agreement reached, the German Pharmacists Association (DAV) and the statutory health insurance have the negotiations last week finished without results. Presumably, an arbitration committee will now have to fix the final discount.

Health insurance companies save pharmacies on the wall
The pharmacies save the health insurance „Since the introduction of the discount agreements in 2007, money has been continuously collected“, reports the state apothecary association Saxony-Anhalt. For example, the special sacrifice of 30 cents would mean savings of around 200 million prescription drug packages in the amount of 200 million euros from health insurance companies. However, these were at the expense of pharmacies and patients, reports the LAV Saxony-Anhalt. The pharmacies would fulfill the time-consuming discount agreements without this being financially rewarded. Thus, the pharmacies not only have to accept the discount but also shoulder the additional personnel costs this entails alone, complains Mathias Arnold. „Finally, these agreements have significantly increased the need for advice in the pharmacy“, said the chairman of the LAV Saxony-Anhalt on. „I do not understand why the cash registers want to save us money despite billions of surpluses“, Arnold explained.

Called for return to fair negotiations
The pharmacists are demanding from the health insurance companies finally a return to fair negotiations, because only a compensation fair can solve the dilemma. The protest actions should also inform local citizens about the situation of pharmacies. Although no significant pharmacy closures have been observed in Saxony-Anhalt so far, the situation is becoming increasingly close. Because the pharmacies are also subject to the laws of the market economy, explained the LAV Saxony-Anhalt. The pharmacists have made in recent years, a sufficient contribution to the elimination of the deficit in the health insurance, now in view of the accumulated surplus of 24 billion euros, the health insurance on the train. „We still hope for a solution through negotiation. However, if it does not succeed, a nationwide minimum supply is conceivable“, stressed LAV Chairman Arnold. (Fp)

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