The Parliamentary Health Committee approved the government's draft of a major amendment to the Reimbursement Law (DNUR) after the first reading. Most of the proposed amendments submitted by the opposition were not voted on. The committee's meeting was spread over two days. Twenty-eight deputies took part in the vote. Nineteen voted in favor of the amendment, none against, and nine abstained.
Maciej Miłkowski: We are changing the logic of reimbursement. DNUR bill approved at the Parliamentary Health Committee
Published July 6, 2023 11:17
- This amendment is a proposal for the first comprehensive and significant changes to the Reimbursement Act since it came into force in 2012. It was a very significant revolution in the health care system," recalled Deputy Health Minister Maciej Miłkowski during the meeting.
As the deputy head of the Health Ministry pointed out, the law of more than 10 years ago streamlined the process of introducing new drugs into reimbursement and implementing drug programs. It also unified the prices of medicinal products. However, from the very beginning there were proposals for changes. DNUR is thus intended to be a proposal to fix many of the problems that have become apparent over the past decade.
- Until now, the Ministry of Health in the reimbursement process has de facto only responded to requests from pharmaceutical companies. This law changes this logic significantly. Initially, this has already been done for the most innovative drugs. The Minister of Health evaluates new drug registrations with the European Medicines Agency and determines which are the most promising, and then passes the information on to the responsible parties so that they can submit a reimbursement application without having to perform analyses. According to the amendment, the Health Minister can also analyze the market situation for drugs that are already generalized and form the basis of treatment. This applies to both prescription drugs and, in an exceptional situation, OTC - if they are the basis of treatment," explained Maciej Miłkowski.
Among the changes the amendment will introduce are those related to increasing pharmacy and wholesale margins. In turn, the retail margin for prescription drugs is to be 25 percent. In addition, annual prescriptions are to disappear, and the "do not substitute" notation on the prescription will no longer be mandatory and it will be up to the patient to decide whether to purchase a cheaper substitute. The bill also reinstates COVID-19 vaccination and gives pharmacists the ability to perform recommended immunizations.
- Patients have very much welcomed the new service, that is, vaccinations performed in pharmacies, so the statutory regulation of this issue is crucial from the point of view of the health of patients as well as our profession. I am convinced that the expansion of immunizations performed in pharmacies will increase the vaccination rate of patients in Poland. We, as a community, are as much in favor of the Refund Act being processed as possible," said President of the Supreme Pharmaceutical Chamber Elżbieta Piotrowska-Rutkowska.
