The government wants to lower the price of drugs. An effort too much for pharmacists, whose sector is facing a deep crisis.
“It’s like a race where you keep moving the finish line… and faster than the runners can produce. It is with a comparison that Philippe Gaertner, director of the Federation of dispensing pharmacists (FSPF), sums up the fight of pharmacists. At a time when the social security financing bill for 2016 (PLFSS 2016) plans to reduce drug prices, pharmacist representatives are alerting themselves.
The European Union calls on France for more regulation in the health sector. At the same time, the French State is continuing its reflections on reducing spending in this area. The objective: to bring the Social Security deficit below the threshold of 10 billion euros.
The savings are necessary, but they are mainly based on pharmacies, according to the FSPF: 55% of the effort requested by the PLFSS weighs on a sector which represents only 16% of expenditure. In a context of structural crisis, this could be too much effort. “We are faced with successive PLFSS which include measures affecting the drug, which results in a drop in industry prices, with consequences on the pharmacy activity”, notes Philippe Gaertner, contacted by Why actor.
Small structures hit hard
The savings requested from pharmacists tripled between 2010 and 2016. Sales from pharmacies fell steadily over the same period. In the first 7 months of 2015 alone, the margin fell by 2.25%, establishes the Union of Community Pharmacists Unions (USPO). The result is clear: the weakening of the network continues. From now on, a pharmacy closes every two days.
“What is looming for the years 2016 and 2017 is an acceleration in the closures of pharmacies,” predicts Philippe Gaertner. Analysis of the 2014 balance sheets shows that these are small structures (turnover of less than 800,000 euros per year, editor’s note) who get the most: 36% of them make – 20% profit before tax … and fixed costs continue to increase. However, these local pharmacies are often dedicated to dispensing medication. They are therefore the ones who are most affected. “
An emergency plan
A very dark observation that pushes pharmacists to mobilization. In addition to a late opening of certain pharmacies on September 30, an open letter was sent to President François Hollande. But the problem is structural: for the FSPF, the drug should no longer be the “adjustment variable” for the various savings plans.
Especially since the evolution of the payment method is far from being completed: for the moment, pharmacists only receive a fee for complex prescriptions, that is to say those with more than 5 lines of drugs. . It is therefore impossible to compensate for a drop in price.
A proposal emerges, however, from the camp of professionals: “For small pharmacies, an emergency plan should be considered, exactly as is done for agricultural structures in danger: why not spread out taxes, social charges, and so on. accelerate the change in the method of remuneration in a second step? “
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