Health insurance agencies seek to exploit urban pharmacies.
City center pharmacies are more profitable due to the basic payment they receive from health insurance companies for each medication. The umbrella organization aims to change this system to benefit rural pharmacies instead.
Health insurance funds want to redistribute pharmacy fees, resulting in reduced payments for urban pharmacies and increased support for rural ones. In the words of Stefanie Stoff-Ahnis, Chairwoman of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, "We don't need eleven pharmacies within walking distance of Munich's Marienplatz. We must ensure that patients in the Uckermark, East Frisia, or Hunsrück can also find a pharmacy nearby."
To achieve this, pharmacies with higher turnover will receive less money per dispensed package. On the flip side, rural pharmacies with correspondingly lower sales will receive a "supply bonus," as proposed by the umbrella organization.
Stoff-Ahnis noted, "Pharmacies that manage the supply in the broad rural area deserve economic preference over pharmacies in the highly frequented city center. In order to achieve this, pharmacies that are important for supply but only dispense a small number of medicines due to their location should receive a bonus—a supply bonus."
Until now, pharmacies received a fixed basic amount of 8.50 euros for each medicine dispensed to individuals with statutory health insurance. A three percent surcharge was also added, based on the drug price.
The Federal Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, also wants to support rural pharmacies by modifying the remuneration system. However, the health insurance funds find his reform plans inadequate. They intend to decrease the basic amount paid to high turnover pharmacies and utilize the savings to benefit rural pharmacies.
In contrast, Lauterbach is suggesting the introduction of "light pharmacies," where the mandatory pharmacist may be absent. Patients could then access readymade medicines at these establishments.
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Pharmacies located in rural areas, like Uckermark or Hunsrück, frequently struggle with limited revenue due to lower sales volumes. Notably, Karl Lauterbach, the Federal Minister of Health, supports changing the remuneration system to provide more assistance to these pharmacies.
Source: www.ntv.de
