LATVIA: While the citizens of Latvia are drowning in endless promises of the state to improve the availability of medicines, the annual co-payment ceiling of EUR 100 has been set for the citizens of Estonia for a long time, while for people over the age of 63, the state reimburses 90% of medicines. Meanwhile, in Lithuania, seniors over the age of 75, with lower incomes, do not pay for medication at all. The Association of Patent-Free Medicines of Latvia advocates for the availability of quality health care for Latvian residents, outlining four scenarios for improving the situation.
“For many years, the main task of the Association of Patent-Free Medicines of Latvia has been to promote the development of the pharmaceutical industry and legislation regulating pharmaceuticals. We have advocated for improving the availability of medicines, as well as improving the quality of healthcare services provided to citizens. In long discussions with the government, we have talked about various models that would help achieve the desired results and stop the situation in which Latvia has the most unfavorable drug pricing mechanism for consumers in the Baltic States. Unfortunately, negotiations and promises have not resulted in great success,” explains Egils Einārs Jurševics, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Patent Free Medicines of Latvia.
The Association of Patent-Free Medicinal Products of Latvia brings together experts from 14 different well-known pharmaceutical manufacturers in Latvia and the world. The association proposes four options for improving the situation.
- Reduction of the VAT rate for prescription drugs from 12% to 5%, which is currently widely discussed by the government. This will improve the availability of medicines for those people who use medicines more often on a daily basis, but whose financial resources tend to limit their consumption – seniors, people with chronic diseases;
- Facilitating the purchase of medicines, following foreign examples and setting the annual co-payment ceiling for patients at 250 euros. Upon reaching this amount, the rest of the co-payments are covered by the state;
- Set the same prices for compensable and non-compensable medicines. This will encourage the rejection of excessive mark-ups for non-reimbursable medicines.
- Expand the range of available reimbursable medicines, including by including new innovative medicines in the list of reimbursable medicines. Even though this would require an increase in the allocated funding for KZS, it would significantly reduce co-payments for a wider range of patients.
By introducing these points into the legislation, the citizens’ opportunity to receive basic health care would be improved, not lagging behind the Baltic neighboring countries. Only well-thought-out, long-term-based decision-making will be able to solve existing problems and promote the development of the health sector, rather than its sinking into regression.
