Dear All,
2011 hasn't even started yet but in the CEE countries the cost containment measures due to budgetary crisis are widening out again. This time it is Hungary that is tightening the belt. On January the 13th the Hungarian Prime Minister announced significant saving measures in three key areas, one of them the state subsidiary of drugs. It was said that these reforms would cut expenditures by HUF 600-800 billion (€2.2 billion).
In order to cut drug spending the government may apply various measures. It might resort to what happened in Greece in 2010, a "simple" mandatory price cut for all reimbursed drugs by a certain percentage or perhaps more likely, given the already low prices in Hungary, to decreasing the reimbursement cap level for certain medicines. Another option, among others, might be to leave ex-factory prices intact but decrease the level of reimbursement for the relatively cheaper drugs.
I hope the Hungarian government applies sensitive measures considering the wider EU impact that these cost-containment measures may have and to not de-incentivize certain areas of patient benefit by simple cost cutting arithmetic’s.
We will report how this turns out.
Ulf
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