60 percent of pharmacy reimbursement costs are drugs dispensed through free lists. We have total free, unlimited and voluntary choice of commercial product by the patient. No European country has allowed itself such an approach," notes Mateusz Oczkowski of the Health Ministry.
What is the future of the 65+ and -18 drug lists?
Published Dec. 15, 2025 20:57
On Monday, the Health Ministry presented the January changes to the list of reimbursed drugs. However, one of the hottest topics in drug reimbursement was not to be missed, that is - the future of the 65+ and -18 drug lists, which were on the censored list (that is, they were mentioned in Health Minister Jolanta Sobieranska-Grenda's "savings plan").
After the media revealed the Health Minister's letter to the Finance Minister, the opposition began to advance the thesis that the government was planning to abolish the free drug program - even though the letter referred only to reducing spending by about PLN 1.5 billion. The sheer scale of annual spending on medicines for seniors alone (in 2024 - PLN 7.4 billion) shows that there can be no question of any liquidation, while it is reasonable to ask whether the program is not too costly. At the moment, out of the total amount of pharmacy reimbursement, which today has already reached almost PLN 13.5 billion, PLN 8 billion is spent on free drugs for three eligible groups of patients.
The Health Ministry assures that beneficiaries of free drugs need not worry. - We do not intend to limit the availability of medicines that are offered on the free 65+ and under-18 lists," declared Deputy Health Minister Katarzyna Kacperczyk. - We will also expand indications and add new active substances if there are such requests. Every patient with various conditions must have the right to both reimbursed or partially reimbursed medicines, but also to free products," she stressed, adding at the same time that the health ministry will look at expenses and areas that generate excessive costs.
The Ministry of Health wants to take measures to improve adherence, but also prescription fulfillment so as to eliminate the negative - also for the budget - phenomenon of stockpiling medicines "for spare". - We want to carry out a campaign to sensitize especially those using free medicines not to stockpile them, and if they have picked them up, to take them. We also have signals from doctors and pharmacists that there are a lot of problems with the dosage and rules that were introduced in 2023. Next year, we intend to proceed with a prescription law that will put the prescribing of drugs in order, including products on the 65 plus and 18 minus lists," Kacperczyk said.
The ministry intends to look at the lists themselves. - They must be shaped in an efficient and sensible way. We don't intend to limit accessibility in any way on the 65 plus list, but we do intend to analyze the lists to remove inefficiencies and to avoid unnecessarily funding duplicative commercial products," she stressed.
Recently, DPL deputy director Mateusz Oczkowski signaled that one preparation should be free for the patient. At Monday's press conference, Mateusz Oczkowski pointed out that Poland has applied a solution unknown in Europe. - We have combined in our system total free of charge with total limitlessness and voluntary choice of a commercial product by the patient. This is an unprecedented solution, as no European country has allowed itself such an approach to free drugs. European countries keep an eye on what drug a patient gets for free within the same molecule," he stressed.
