Discount market status

31.05.2010 12:40

May 31, 2010

"Last year, BARMER and GEK saved approximately 80 million euros through discount contracts," explains Dr. Rolf-Ulrich Schlenker, Deputy Chairman of the Board of BARMER GEK, in the cover interview of the June 7 issue of "Monitor Versorgungsforschung." Schlenker estimates the additional potential to be tapped at "approximately 20 million"—which, however, could be further optimized if, as Prof. Dr. hc Herbert Rebscher argues in his academic article "Discount and Direct Contracts – Contract Management from the Perspective of Health Insurance Funds," "new contract forms were developed or existing contracts were adapted to meet needs."
Another figure that health insurance companies have been reluctant to publish, as all contract details are subject to confidentiality, which politicians have not yet prevented: The DEUTSCHE BKK was able to save approximately 17 million euros through discount contracts in 2009, with the savings for 2010 from the 34 new contracts, which come into effect on July 1, being estimated at 23 million euros.
According to MVF author Dr. rer. nat. Anja Richartz (responsible for pharmaceuticals at Deutsche BKK), "drug discount agreements are one of the most important instruments of statutory health insurance today to influence pharmaceutical spending—primarily in the generics-eligible market."