As of November 1, 2023, patients should pay less at pharmacies for reimbursed drugs made in Poland or from Polish ingredients. Meanwhile, the health ministry has not published a list of drugs covered by the reduction, and it is not included in the draft announcement that will be in effect from January 1, 2024. The absence of this list means that public officials have failed to implement a mandatory provision of the law. It also exposes patients to financial damages amounting to at least several million zlotys per month.
Reimbursement: Health Ministry has not prepared a list of drugs with reduced payment for patients
Published Dec. 11, 2023 08:16
The Health Ministry's actions are unlawful and violate existing regulations, three drug manufacturer organizations pointed out in their opinion to the Health Ministry's draft announcement on the list of reimbursed drugs, foodstuffs for special nutritional purposes and medical devices for January 1, 2024.
The Polish Association of Employers of the Pharmaceutical Industry - KRAJOWI PRODUCERS OF MEDICATIONS, the Economic Chamber FARMACJA POLSKA and the Polish Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry and Medical Devices POLFARMED have indicated that - contrary to the wording of Article 37(2c) of the Reimbursement Act - the announcement for January 1, 2024 does not include a list of drugs manufactured in the Republic of Poland or using an active substance also manufactured in Poland.
Issuing a notice without such a list amounts to a failure by public officials to implement a mandatory provision of the law. It also makes it impossible for patients to purchase Polish medicines with a 10% and 15% discount, which exposes them to financial damage and violates their rights under not only the amended Reimbursement Act (Article 6, paragraph 2a) , but also restricts access to the guaranteed benefits indicated in the law on health care services financed
from public funds (Article 15, paragraph 2, point 14) in violation of Article 68. of the Polish Constitution. It will also act to the detriment of the Polish economy. In light of the current provisions of the Reimbursement Act, the creation and publication of a list of drugs manufactured in Poland does not depend on the free decision of the Minister of Health. It is his statutory duty. Failure to publish such a list, all the more so in a situation where the Minister has the data to create it, will constitute an unlawful action that may raise suspicion of failure to fulfill his duties.
Organizations of domestic drug manufacturers stress that the regulations do not require them to submit new reimbursement applications or submit additional documents. Despite this, the majority of manufacturers, wanting to assist the Ministry in the rapid process of creating the list, have submitted documents and statements confirming the manufacture of drugs in Poland. Also, the organizations of these manufacturers have consistently reminded the Ministry since October of the need to create a list of such drugs.
Unfortunately, these appeals were not taken into account in the creation of the announcement for November 1, 2023, as well as in the draft announcement for January 1, 2024.
Therefore, three organizations of manufacturers of drugs produced in Poland have informed the Sejm and the Senate, as well as the Prime Minister of Poland, the Ministers of Justice and Health, and the Ombudsmen for Civil Rights and Patients' Rights about the failure of the Health Ministry to fulfill the statutory regulations.
Source: PZPPF
