Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2012
587. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Health if a medical card holder can purchase a branded drug over a generic drug and pay the difference in the cost of the branded drug to the pharmacy, for example, pay the €2 difference of the cost of the drug to the pharmacy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51058/12]
View answerThere is no cost to medical card holders for prescribed drugs which are on the list of reimbursable items, other than the prescription charge of 50 cent per item. The Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012 provides for the introduction of a system of generic substitution and reference pricing. Generic substitution allows pharmacists to substitute a cheaper generic equivalent, at the patient’s request, when a more expensive product has been prescribed. Reference pricing involves setting a common reimbursement amount for selected groups of medicines, which will be done by the HSE. Only the reference price is reimbursed by the State. When this Bill is enacted and commenced eligible patients will not be required to pay any additional costs for medicines priced at or below the reference price. However, if a patient chooses a particular brand that is more expensive than the reference price they will have to pay the difference between the brand price and the reference price to the pharmacy. Reference pricing coupled with generic substitution provides patients with an incentive to opt for the cheapest available product, but does not impose any unavoidable additional costs on patients.
