The German Pharmacists Association (DAV) has published early information data, according to which the development of pharmaceutical expenditure of the statutory health insurance funds (SHI) and the number of prescriptions filled can be viewed.
According to the data, overall drug expenditures for 2020 have increased, while the volume of prescriptions has decreased. According to the DAV, drug spending increased by six percent in November, although prescription volume was reduced by 3.2 percent for the first ten months of 2020. Reasons for the increase in spending or changes in sales include package size changes, changes in dosage forms, and dosages for patients, but also a switch to other medications in some circumstances.
Here are the details at a glance:
The DAV recorded an increase in drug spending in the first ten months of last year of 5.8 percent on average, and in November it was even up six percent (see above: second lockdown).
Drug spending from January to November 2020 was then 37.2 billion euros, in the same period of the previous year (2019) it was significantly lower at 35.1 billion. Estimates suggest that the SHI had to spend 40.5 billion euros on Rx drugs last year, although vaccines are not included, and 38.4 billion euros the year before. In January and February, there was a five percent increase in drug spending, and with the onset of the first lockdown in March, an increase of as much as 25 percent. Then, in April and May, drug spending declined by 1.8 and five percent, respectively.
The number of prescriptions fell by 4.7 percent in October, while the average from January to October was down 3.2 percent.
However, vaccine spending by the Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) system, which is not included in general drug spending, exploded. Here, an average increase of 13.9 percent was recorded for the months of January to November 2020. In October, the expenditure increase was still below the average at 7.6 percent, while in November it rose rapidly to 17.5 percent. The DAV expects that despite the increase in drug spending, the pharmacy fee will decrease. However, according to early information, DAV’s billing data may include distortions because one data center (AvP) out of a total of six former data centers is insolvent. The pharmacies that changed in September 2020 could thus distort the picture of the extrapolation by sampling.
Source: apotheke-adhoc.de