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Cape Town - Consumers face paying up to R2bn a year more for medication if the Medicines and Related Substances Amendment Bill, published in the Government Gazette in July, is accepted.
It is estimated that the proposed amendment to pharmacists' dispensing tariffs will push up the average fee from the current R18 to about R49, an average increase of 23% in medicine prices.
Jan Howell, a consulting actuary at Old Mutual Actuaries and Consultants, said this could significantly increase claims against medical funds.
Pharmacists' current dispensing fees are low. Guidelines stipulate that pharmacies may earn 26% to a maximum of R26 on drugs.
The amendments contain four dispensing fee formulas that can be added to the single exit price for drugs of Schedule 1 and higher.
The single exit price is the pharmacist’s purchase price for drugs, and the dispensing fee is the levy the pharmacist can charge for business costs and professional expertise.
The formulas are:
- 46% plus R6 can be added to the exit price of prescribed medication costing R75 or less;
- 33% plus R15 can be added to that costing between R75.01 and R200;
- 15% plus R51 can be added to that costing R200.01 to R700; and
- 5% plus R121 can be added to that costing more than R700.
Discovery Health CEO Jonathan Broomberg said the scheme is still analysing the implications of the proposed tariffs.
Provisional indications are, however, that they could have a significant effect on the cost of medicines for medical scheme members and those paying for prescriptions from their own pockets.
It is reckoned that the new tariff structure dispensation will increase medical schemes' costs by about R2bn.
Howell believed it would increase the claims burden on funds with many older members, who generate a large proportion of claims.
Ivan Kotzé, executive director of the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa (PSSA), previously told Sake24 that the society was satisfied with the proposals.
These tariffs contained no fat, but it was important for the average fee of R38 (the PSSA's preferred minimum average) to be reached.
Interest groups can comment on the new tariffs until August 22.
- Sake24.com