Hungary to cut drug spending by nearly a third

Hungary’s programme of economic reform, to be announced next month, could include cuts totalling around 30% to the national drug reimbursement bill, the government has said.

Gyorgy Matolcsy, the minister for national economy in the government established by the centre-right Fidesz party last April, has said that savings of as much as $490 million (around 30%) are possible to spending on drugs by the national health insurance fund (OEP), whose drugs bill was over $1.7 billion in 2010, 5% more than planned for the year.

Drug reimbursement is estimated to account for only 20% of total health care spending in Hungary but use of pharmaceuticals is boosted by the population’s tendency to over-medicate, say local reports.

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/11-01-19/30_cut_in_Hungary_s_drug_spending_next_month.aspx