Discount agreements changes in the drugs

Statutory health insurance must adjust to new medicines

10/01/2013

According to information from the German Pharmacists Association (DAV), many statutory health insureds currently have to adjust to new medicines if they use their prescriptions in the pharmacy as usual. The reason is the newly negotiated discount agreements between the health insurance companies and the drug manufacturers.

The discount agreements secure the individual health insurance company discounts on the nationwide pharmacy sales price for certain drugs by the respective manufacturer. According to the DAV, pharmacies are then obliged to give the doctor's prescriptions on prescription medicines as long as the drug, the strength, the size of the pack and the authorization for the area of ​​application fulfill the desired purpose. However, as the rebate agreements are renegotiated on a cash-specific basis every two years, patients regularly have to adjust to a new drug. Also in 2013, many health insurance companies entered into new discount agreements according to the DAV.

Changeover for millions of patients with the drugs
Due to the new discount agreements between health insurance companies and drug manufacturers, many patients with statutory health insurance currently have to adjust to new medicines, reports the German Pharmacists Association. „For discount medicines, millions of patients have to be changed over and over again over the years“, explained DAV Chairman Fritz Becker. This leads in particular „in the case of chronically ill people who know their medication exactly, to uncertainty.“ They suddenly seem to get a new drug without reason, although the same thing is noted on the prescription as before. Succeed here „only with pharmaceutical expertise and great personal commitment (the pharmacist) to restore the patients' confidence in their medication“, reports the Federal Association of German Pharmacists Associations (ABDA).

Changes to the discount agreements with the statutory health insurance
Among other things, the discount agreements of the IKK Classic, the company and guild health insurance funds, the Techniker Krankenkasse and the AOKen have changed. At the IKK Classic with its approximately 2.6 million members, 150 new drugs were negotiated on January 1, 2013, and the AOK group (around 24 million members) had more than 20 drugs, according to the announcement of the Federal Association of German Pharmacists Associations , At Techniker Krankenkasse (8.2 million members), the new discount agreements will apply from 1 February for more than 20 active ingredients and also at the operating and guaranty health insurances (about eight million insured), the new discount agreements for more than 150 active ingredients from February in force. Since April 2007, the statutory health insurance companies have the opportunity to negotiate a discount for drugs in direct negotiations with the pharmaceutical manufacturers. This saves the health insurance millions, but means for the patients regularly changes. (Fp)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann