Hungary's Welfare Ministry has announced that medicine prices will riseby an average of 12% in the middle of January, reports MTI Econews. Drug prices increased 35% on average in Hungary during 1996, with Health Insurance Fund subsidies on retail drug prices totaling 81.85 billion forint ($503.7 million) in the year.
Current price subsidies are to remain unchanged, but new, tighter regulations, to be drawn up by end-March, will be introduced on the prescribing of antidepressants and antibiotics. The system of drug price subsidies could be changed in the second half of 1997, when stricter controls will be introduced on the issuing of prescriptions.
Around 20% of all Hungarian drug price subsidies go on providing free medicines to people on low incomes. The average annual subsidy per person is 7,200 forint, and the average spent on those entitled to free medicines (whose numbers rose from 300,000 in 1995 to 550,000 in 1996) is 26,781 forint.
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