Medicines 2009
02.03.2010 15:58
ABDA - Federal Association of German Pharmacists Associations: Just as many packs as in 2008
The number of pharmaceutical packages delivered at the expense of the statutory health insurance (GKV) remained constant in 2009 compared to the previous year. At +0.2 percent, the total changed only slightly to 736 million packs. The number of prescriptions issued by doctors also stagnated: a marginal change of + 0.1 percent consolidated the total number of 450 million GKV prescriptions. This was calculated by the ABDA – Federal Association of German Pharmacists Associations. As the number of medicines dispensed remains constant, the pharmacy fee also stagnates, as the medicine price regulation stipulates a fixed surcharge per pack.
In 2009, statutory health insurance expenditure on medicines (excluding vaccines) rose by 5.9 percent to 27.3 billion euros (including VAT), as forecast by health insurance companies and doctors. This growth rate is within the framework of the plans of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV). As part of their framework guidelines in accordance with Section 84 SGB V, the two partners had planned an increase in statutory health insurance drug expenditure for 2009, initially by 6.6 percent and later by 5.6 percent. The increase is almost entirely due to the so-called structural component. The manufacturers of patent-protected drugs are the main beneficiaries of the increase in spending.
The savings made by the GKV through discount agreements in accordance with Section 130a Paragraph 8 SGB V are not included in the above figures. All statutory health insurance companies have now concluded discount agreements with manufacturers. However, the savings volumes are not published in a timely manner, so only the health insurance companies have current information on the amount of savings achieved and thus on their actual drug expenditure. However, savings amounting to billions of euros are expected across all health insurance companies each year.