WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM
FOLLOWING the outcry by the medical aid industry about a proposed dispensing fee to be charged by pharmacists, United SA Pharmacies, which represents half of SA’s pharmacists, on Tuesday announced that from July 28, most of SA’s 1 750 pharmacies will sell prescription medicines on a cost plus R17,10 flat fee basis.
Responding to medical aid claims that the fee will lead to a 17% increase in average medical costs, USAP chairman Julian Solomon said the new pricing structure will see the profits of medical aid schemes and administrators declining by millions. He added that the new structure is in line with government’s national drug policy.
Maintianing that the new fee structure will lead to significant savings in the cost to p[atients of prescription drugs, Solomon said: “The object of this professional fee is to move the incentive for pharmacists from making a small profit on the sale of medicines to being rewarded for their professional services. This will dramatically bring down the total cost of the medicine drug bill.”
Solomon claimed medical aids’ objections to the dispensing fee arose from the fact that they stand to lose discounts of up to 30% on the costs of medicines. He said the introduction of the fee followed a decision by drug wholesalers to sell goods at cost to pharmacies from July 28, replacing the practice of adding a margin to the cost which included an amount to offset the discounts passed on to medical aid schemes.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma ios due to present her redrafted legislation aimed at lowering drug costs to Cabinet today.