Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
1279. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Health the status of the development of proposals for multi-annual budgeting in the healthcare system; if consideration is being given to creating multi-annual budgets for the reimbursement of medicines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32469/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Sláintecare Implementation Strategy commits to reform the funding system to support new models of care and drive value to make better use of resources. In this regard the Department is examining the feasibility of implementing multi-annual budgeting in the healthcare system. Part of this work includes examining international best practice in this area.
Currently there is no separate budget for medicine reimbursement. The 2019 letter of determination sets out the funding levels for the HSE each year and this informs the NSP.
The 2019 NSP set out a budget of €2,737.6 m which was allocated to the Primary Care Reimbursement Service. This budget is profiled over 12 months in order to reflect how expenditure is expected to be incurred each month. Funding for new medicines / treatments are built into this budget during the estimates process.
