SVB insurers call for help

As part of the Pisa II Cabinet’s attempt to reduce public health expenditures, it has chosen among other things to reduce the cost of medicines by touching the well-being of the people. In the past the country’s autonomous course has also taken steps to reduce the cost of medicines by 30 million florins.

In 2011 it was decided to maximize the price of branded medicines and to initiate the introduction of generic and cheaper medicines. Now, 12 years later, health insurers are surprised to see an additional charge on their medicines, even if they are generic, in addition to the 1 guilder contribution on the receipt rule. Therefore, the MAN faction is of the opinion that the policy related to the introduction of generic medicines and the maximum price of branded medicines should be changed to reduce the cost of medicines.

Introduction of a public discounting system for the most financially burdensome medicines for SVB may result in original branded medicines being available even cheaper than their generations on the market.

This can have a fixed price of the drugs for 2 years / 1 year to ensure that the insured does not have to pay extra and also reduce the cost of SVB considerably. This practice has been used for years in Barbados, the Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and Sint Maarten, among others, to control drug costs.

The MAN faction has long noted the difficulty that many SVB insured people have to pay even one florin for each medicine out of their own pockets and has urged each of the Ministers of Health in recent years to eliminate the 1 florin for those with fewer resources, including those living on a subsistence basis and our pensioners who have only one AOV as income.

Now that the cost of living has risen dramatically as a result of the inflation after the Covid pandemic, the current government of MFK and PNP wants the SVB insured to pay a so-called  ⁇ bijbetaling ⁇  which is often much more than the 1 florin for each medicine.

This is likely to result in uninsured people not being able to take their medication and especially those with chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and those who use blood thinners. These individuals will not be able to pay and consequently will not be able to use their daily allowance. This will lead to more health problems and increase the complications required for the hospitalization of these people in CMC hospitals which results in higher costs.

It is like the above with Cabinet Pisas II and his minister of Health, Environment and Nature, in the person of Mr. Javier Sylvania, is trying to get rid of the cost of medicine on the backs of the people in a way that will cause more serious health problems for the population of Corsica and ultimately a net increase in healthcare spending.

In English we would say that the current government is “Penny wise and Pound foolish”, they will escape a penny today to spend a penny tomorrow.While two years have passed, the current government has yet to present a plan to address the disease.

MAN faction applauds the fact that there are pharmacies that have shown solidarity from the beginning with the insurers and have never charged the 1 florin for each medicine.

There are also other pharmacies that no longer charge the florin to insured persons over the age of 60. I wish every company would follow this example.

The MAN faction is pleading to reverse this ban on generic medicines, as it did on the vitamin one after the MAN faction condemned it.

We urge the Government, the SVB and professionals in the field of medicine to introduce other alternatives for controlling spending in the public health fund that will not harm the health and quality of life of our people and start working on prevention of our people.

1. Why is it that now in addition to the 1 guilder for each drug, the SVB insured has to pay an extra contribution for generic drugs?
2. Wasn’t the decision in 2011 to introduce generics to cut costs?
3. Will there be an investigation into the effectiveness of this 2011 policy in light of the fact that today the insured still has to pay extra for generic drugs?
4. How many pharmacies don’t charge for this service?
5. Was a medical effectiveness study done on the introduction of 1 florin on the insurance people in SVB?
6. Does the government see the possibility of introducing a system of public distribution along with the SVB of the most commonly used remedies for the various diseases?