November 26, 2018
Sleeping pills, cough syrups, nasal sprays or spasfon, from 1er January 2019, you might have a nasty surprise when it comes to buying your medications. This is the consequence of a reform concerning the remuneration of pharmacists. Explanations.
Increase in dispensing fees for pharmacists in the 1erjanuary 2019
Since 1er January 2015, in return for the advice they provide to policyholders when they sell a drug, pharmacists receive “dispensing fees” on all reimbursable drugswhether prescribed or not. This is a fixed remuneration of € 1.02 per drug, covered two-thirds by Health Insurance, and the rest by complementary health insurance.
From 1er January 2019, under an agreement between pharmacists and Health Insurance signed in 2017 to compensate for the drop in the prices of reimbursable drugs, it was decided that pharmacists’ dispensing fees will increase and their amount will no longer be fixed.
Complementary health insurance will reimburse certain drugs less well
Novelty revealed by our colleagues from Parisian : mutuals plan to no longer systematically cover the dispensing fees of pharmacists. Indeed according to Philippe Gaertner, president of the Federation of French Pharmaceutical Unions, “ Health insurance confirmed this to us during a working meeting on September 14: if their contracts do not provide for reimbursement of drugs at 15% or 30%, complementary health insurance will not contribute to the pharmacist’s fees ”, can we read in the columns of the Parisian.
Thus, for the patient, it is an inevitable increase in his out-of-pocket expenses for drugs, since if the Health Insurance will in principle still reimburse two-thirds of the dispensing fees of pharmacists, mutual funds will sometimes refuse to cover the cost. remainder, especially for non-reimbursed drugs. Be careful to check your insurance coverage contract carefully, so as not to have any bad surprises in January.
Aurélie Giraud
To find out more: How does health insurance reimbursement work?
