Prices of aids and medicines have been reduced based on regulations that the Ministry of Health will amend

After the Coordination for Medical Products of the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) reacted to the decision to reduce the prices of medical aids, as well as 260 generic medicines, we requested a comment from the HUP association that gathers medicine manufacturers, as well as HZZO and the Ministry of Health.

To remind, from HUP’s Coordination for Medical Products, they stated that in order to ensure the availability of medical products, at their initiative, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Health where, alongside representatives of HUP, Minister Vili Beroš participated along with state secretaries and assistants, as well as representatives of HZZO. At the meeting, the Ministry representatives proposed the adoption of a decision or instruction to HZZO that temporarily allows for an increase in the prices of aids. Contrary to this, HZZO has reduced the prices of medical aids, which has made the situation, they claim in the Coordination, unsustainable and threatens that many products will become unavailable for patients.

However, HZZO refers to legal and sub-legal acts and the decision of its Management Board based on the regular business process of HZZO, which is made at least once a calendar year. At that time, the process of aligning the prices of medical products is carried out in accordance with the Regulation on the criteria for placing medical aids on the basic and additional list of medical aids of HZZO and the criteria for determining the prices of medical aids.

– Based on the conducted procedure, both the basic and additional lists of medical products are updated – they say in HZZO.

So, although HUP’s associations, i.e., the Coordination for Medical Products and the Association of Medicine Manufacturers mention the meeting of representatives of the Ministry of Health, HZZO, and HUP last Monday, in which the Ministry suggested an increase, not a decrease in prices, HZZO emphasizes once again that this is not about isolated decisions of the Ministry, but about the regular procedure of HZZO and also notes that prices for medical aids have not changed in the period of three years, or three consecutive annual price alignment procedures.

– We are aware of the challenges in the context of the existing global inflation that affects the Croatian market and in the health segment, which consequently reflects on the prices of certain aids. As a result, we are making efforts to adopt a new Regulation on the criteria for placing medical products on the basic and additional list and the criteria for determining the prices of medical products – they say in HZZO.

This is precisely the task of the Ministry of Health, which we asked why prices were reduced if on Monday there was a discussion about paying higher prices for medical aids and medicines. However, the Ministry directed us to HZZO despite specific questions, and although we insisted on an answer, they did not send it. Nevertheless, HZZO’s mention of amendments to the regulations indicates that the reduction indeed went automatically based on the current regulation, and that the new one will presumably allow for more flexible calculations of when prices should rise and when they should fall.

– In order to improve regulatory mechanisms related to medical products, the Ministry of Health has initiated amendments to the aforementioned Regulation, which are currently in the final interdepartmental alignment – they state from HZZO.

The amendments to the regulations are also mentioned in their response by members of the HUP Association of Medicine Manufacturers who are also affected by the reduction of prices of 260 generic medicines. As in all industries, their production costs are rising, so they can hardly accept the price reductions at this moment. They note that for the members of that HUP association, transport costs have increased by up to 160 percent in the last year, raw material costs by up to 118 percent, and energy costs by as much as 330 percent.

– Such an enormous increase in all costs and the inability to raise the prices of prescription medicines, which are automatically reduced based on regulatory practices, can lead to difficulties in the supply of medicines. We must emphasize that generic medicines account for as much as 60 percent of the volume of medicines in Croatia, but only four percent of the cost. Therefore, our members are doing everything they can to maintain a secure supply of medicines to the market and patients, but unfortunately, in the long term, they will not be able to independently absorb significant costs, thus reducing their ability to attract limited resources. The HUP Association of Medicine Manufacturers believes, after a meeting with Minister Beroš, which they assess as positive and constructive, that soon, in joint work between the Ministry and the industry, a long-term model will be found that will enable further uninterrupted supply of medicines in the Republic of Croatia – they conclude in that HUP association.

Thus, at least temporarily, a larger conflict has been avoided between manufacturers of medical aids and generic medicines, on one side, and the Ministry of Health and HZZO on the other side. It remains to be seen how quickly the Ministry of Health will make amendments to the aforementioned regulation. As it now seems, the initial outrage over HZZO’s decision to lower the prices of medical aids and generic medicines is slowly calming down, but it seems that this is only an illusion. Because if the adoption of the amendments to the regulations is delayed, it is questionable whether pharmacists will have understanding for that.