Free supply of reimbursed drugs for people who are 75 years of age receiving the lowest retirement pension or disability pension – provides for the draft amendment to the act on health care benefits, the second reading of which will be held at the next Senate meeting.
The initiative to grant all pensioners free medicines was put forward to the Senate by the Children of War Association and two private persons.
The draft amendment to the act on health care services financed from public funds and the act on the professions of doctor and dentist was prepared by the Senate Human Rights, Rule of Law and Petitions Committee, however, limiting the right to free medicines to people over 75 and with the lowest benefits.
In the justification, it was written that this would apply to approx. 108 thousand. people, and the related costs would amount to approximately PLN 214 million per year.
During the first reading of the bill at a joint meeting of the health committee, the legislative committee and the family and social policy committee, the senators supported the draft.
The changes are not supported by the Ministry of Health. As Deputy Minister of Health Aleksander Sopliński said, it is not possible to verify the actual income of people receiving the lowest pensions or disability pensions. According to him, they sometimes benefit from additional social welfare benefits. There would be crazy problems with the verification of patients entitled to free drugs – he emphasized.
According to him, the high expenditure of older people on drugs is due to, inter alia, the fact that doctors who do not have a contract with the National Health Fund prescribe them drugs with full payment. In addition – as Sopliński said – elderly people, under the influence of intrusive advertisements, also buy many dietary supplements. (PAP)
The information comes from the PAP Legislacja website