Healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Attempts to control them come at the expense of patients. That cannot be the intention.
These are harrowing stories. Patients with epilepsy who have to go abroad to obtain their medication. Parkinson’s patients who suddenly have to switch to another medicine, with unexpected side effects. Or patients with some forms of cancer who have nowhere to go.
Dozens of medicines are not available in the Netherlands for two weeks or longer. There are various reasons for this, but the so-called preference policy certainly plays a role.
Health insurers apply this policy to keep healthcare costs within limits. Of all the medicines on the market for a certain ailment, they designate one that is reimbursed. That is often the cheapest. That in itself is nice, but we have a ringside seat for next to nothing. If shortages arise – for whatever reason – there is no alternative. Then many patients stayed in the monkey.
Take epilepsy patients as an example. “The medicine shortage means more fear, more attacks, more healthcare costs and a greater risk of death,” says Laura M’Rabet of EpilepsieNL at RTL News .
Sometimes a shortage is resolved fairly quickly. Alternative medicines are then conjured up, imported or, if necessary, made in haste in pharmacies.
But that is far from ideal. Doctors’ prescriptions must be adjusted and pharmacists must inform patients about the effects of the new medications. The spokesperson for the pharmaceutical organization even states that one employee per pharmacy is working full-time on solving shortages. The Netherlands has almost 2000 pharmacies. Count your losses.
If we want to seriously tackle the medicine shortage, the preference policy must be overhauled. This means allowing multiple providers and therefore accepting that prices can go up. That is – literally – the price we pay for better availability of medicines. And thus for less distressing stories from vulnerable patients.