EXPENDITURE ON NON-PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS IN IRELAND DURING A PERIOD OF HEALTHCARE COST CONTAINMENT
Author(s)
Carney P, Corless S
Novartis Ireland Ltd., Dublin 4, Ireland
OBJECTIVES: Total expenditure on reimbursed pharmaceuticals in Ireland has fallen since the impact of the economic recession in 2008. However, data used to represent these figures typically contain both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products. The objective of this analysis is to delineate spending across these two different sectors over the past 14 years in Ireland and assess their relative trends. METHODS: Nationwide Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) data was used for 12 years between 2002 and 2015. The total expenditure across schemes that contain both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical schemes was calculated, and non-pharmaceutical expenditure items were identified and subtracted to produce a total pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical expenditure estimates and calculate their relative proportions. RESULTS: For non-high-tech medicine, total expenditure decreased from €1.66bn in 2012 to €1.4bn in 2015 (15.7% decreases). For non-pharmaceutical items reimbursed under PCRS, the decrease in expenditure during this period was 0.68m (<0.5% decrease). In 2015, total expenditure on non-pharmaceutical products reimbursed under PCRS was €173m. CONCLUSIONS: Since the impact of the economic recession, the total cost of medicines reimbursed in Ireland has decreased. The decrease in expenditure, at a time of increasing demand, was supported by the introduction of mandatory rebates for innovative pharmaceutical medicines. This analysis shows that for non-pharmaceutical items, expenditure reductions over this period were not proportional.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2017-11, ISPOR Europe 2017, Glasgow, Scotland
Value in Health, Vol. 20, No. 9 (October 2017)
Code
PHP43
Topic
Economic Evaluation, Health Policy & Regulatory, Health Service Delivery & Process of Care
Topic Subcategory
Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies, Formulary Development, Pricing Policy & Schemes, Reimbursement & Access Policy
Disease
Multiple Diseases