Gestor bibliográfico Crisis y Salud

The economic crisis is being accompanied by a series of profound reforms in the health sector that are having a significant impact on the population’s well-being. One of the most substantial issues, and in recent weeks one of the most hotly debated in Spain, revolves around the issue of co-payments for prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical expenditure in Spain is characterized by several paradoxes: while the average price of drugs tends to be lower in comparison to other European countries (1), Spain’s per capita expenditure is one of Europe’s highest (2), due largely to the elevated number of prescriptions per patient and year (3). As it is said from the health economics` perspective, we have a demand-side problem not a supply-side problem. Recent reforms in drug co-payment regulations aim at tackling the root causes of this problem. For example, retirees who until now were exempt from paying for their medications will now have to assume some out-of-pocket costs. Individual contributions for retirees will now be based on a sliding scale linked to income levels. The additional monthly cost for most pensioners will range between 8 and 18 Euros, although for those with pensions over 100,000 Euros the cost could ascend to as much as 60 Euros a month. Those at the lowest end of the income scale are exempt from these measures.