Pharmaceutical prices will rise for hospitals

09.09.2010 16:40

The Association of German University Hospitals (VUD) criticizes the Federal Government's initiative to grant private health insurers (PKV) favorable prices for outpatient drug therapy in the future, analogous to statutory health insurers (GKV), while continuing to exclude hospitals from discounts for patented drugs.

„This approach is completely incomprehensible, as hospitals are typically the first users of highly innovative drugs, for example in cancer therapy. If prices in the outpatient sector are regulated, pharmaceutical companies will inevitably offset their profits in the inpatient sector. Legislators must close this loophole to ensure the continued supply of patented drugs in hospitals. The cost dynamics in this segment are already immense and threaten the overall price structure for hospital stays,“ commented VUD Secretary General Rüdiger Strehl on a report in the Financial Times Deutschland from September 6, 2010, regarding the German government's planned amendments to the „Law on the Reorganization of the Pharmaceutical Market.“.

Drug expenditures in university hospitals average 91,000 TEU of total costs, while in other hospitals they still amount to 5.11,000 TEU. "Even shortly before the introduction of mandatory discounts for outpatient care under the statutory health insurance system, we observed significant price increases in negotiations with pharmaceutical companies," explains Strehl. "As early as spring, the VUD (Association of Independent Hospitals) alerted members of the federal government and ministries to the distortions that a one-sided discount regulation for the hospital market would cause. We therefore urgently call for the extension of discounts for patented drugs to hospitals."„