New nightmarish reduction of pharmaceutical expenditure
Health Minister Makis Voridis, in the event for the 40 years of the party, in Rhodes, made announcements about the further reduction of pharmaceutical expenditure in 2015.
As he stated, the public pharmaceutical expenditure in 2015 will be further reduced; from 2 billion Euros will reach 1.92 billion Euros.
It is indeed surprising, how a government agent make such declarations, when the subject is already legislated and having already preceded discussions and agitations with the pharmaceutical industry.
Moreover, it is almost certain that both Mr. Voridis and the government will be peaceful, since they have implement with reverence the requirements of the Troika, which wants the pharmaceutical expenditure in Greece to touch the 1% of GDP.
So, patients should taste the "bitter pill" of even greater reduction in pharmaceutical expenditure, leading to have less medication than they need or to cut their treatments, something which is a common practice, in the recent years of the memorandum.
Recall that in the amount of 2 billion Euros, which was legislated Mr. Voridis, included the expenditure on the uninsured, but also the cost of vaccines.
Naturally, the representatives of the pharmaceutical industry have already said that this will bring suffocation, with dramatic consequences for patients and public health.
Furthermore, the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association has proposed, the spending for the uninsured to be directed to another account, in order that these vulnerable groups to have independent access to essential medicines.
At the same time, the representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacists constantly seek a correction (not an increase) of pharmaceutical expenditure to 2.3 billion Euros, as the only way out from the homicidal situation where we have been driven.
Of course, the situation would be terrifying if the pharmaceutical expenditure (already includes 6.5% VAT) falls below 2 billion Euros and if increased the rate of VAT on medicines.
The leadership of the Ministry of Health should therefore be very careful when talking for further reduce of costs, because things have not only an accounting dimension, but have also human dimension...
Source: onmed.gr
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