You will never be better served than you are yourself. While public finances are at their worst, pharmaceutical laboratories are trying to prevent the hemorrhage. Fearing a budget cut in spending on medicines, manufacturers attacked on Thursday, September 19, presenting the government with their own solution to the crisis, even before its official constitution.
“We propose a plan to save 1.1 billion euros in medicines to sustain our system without penalizing patients”announced LEEM, the professional organization representing laboratories, on Thursday, September 19, during its traditional back-to-school day.
The menu of recommendations includes: reduction in the consumption of medicines, expansion of the list of those sold without a prescription, or even advance payment by laboratories for discounts, discounts granted to Health Insurance on the nominal price of medicines.
“No indication, no direction, no arbitration”
A way, year after year, to take the initiative, given the lack of visibility on the measures of the next bill on Social Security financing, and to show the good will of pharmaceutical manufacturers. Because the sector is feverish: “No indication, no direction, no arbitration has been leaked yet”said Thierry Hulot, president of LEEM, on Thursday.
However, it is not a question of giving gifts without substantial compensation. In exchange for these savings proposals, pharmaceutical manufacturers are asking for a reduction in their taxes, in particular of the safeguard clause. This specific contribution to the pharmaceutical sector, which allows the State to control spending on medicines and whose amount has skyrocketed in recent years, has laboratories crying foul.
The industrialists are therefore demanding that the new government honour the promises made by the previous one. The latter had promised to gradually reduce the amount of this special tax, lowering its maximum limit from 1.6 billion euros in 2025 to 500 million euros in 2027. But since then, the political situation has changed, plunging the laboratories into uncertainty.
