Omnibus draft law: an obstacle to reforms and growth, says Greek trade group

Ahead of the parliamentary vote on the omnibus draft law with the prior actions for the closure of the fourth review, SFEE, the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies, pointed out the following on its website:

After six years of no effective implementation of structural reforms in the area of pharmaceuticals and unsuccessful control of pharmaceutical expenditure, the failed tool of the “temporary” claw-back mechanism is set to remain in place for another four years until 2022. At the same time, potential additional expenditure is foreseen, arising from the upward adjustment of the public pharmaceutical expenditure ceiling in the event of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Conversely, expenditure will be reduced in the event of GDP decline.

Every year that a closed budget has been implemented in public pharmaceutical spending (since as early as 2012) has been a clear confirmation of the failure, complacency and inaction of the system in controlling pharmaceutical spending. The claw-back mechanism has failed. It has failed because it is applied on incorrectly identified actual patient needs; it has been used to make up for the failure of the government to control expenditure; and it has been serving as an additional item of government revenue. From claw-back alone, the state has collected over 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) from pharmaceutical companies in six years and, adding the mandatory rebates, this amount exceeds 5 billion euros! The coverage of uninsured citizens is entirely funded by pharmaceutical companies, making the pharmaceutical industry an additional source of public healthcare financing.