Hungary: Drug Price Cut Requested

Hungary's National Health Council has officially requested thatpharmaceutical producers and distributors reduce their prices.

MTI Econews reports that the request has been made because the Council's National Insurance Fund is facing a deficit of 40 billion forint ($203.6 million) by the end of the year. It has thus been forced to issue a supplementary budget raising the target deficit from 3.8 billion forint to 30 billion forint. The revenue target has been revised to 510 billion forint, and the expenditure target to 540 billion forint.

The Council added that if there is no reduction in medicine prices, Health Fund spending on retail medicine price subsidies will overshoot the 85 billion forint target by at least 10 billion forint. However, it also warned of a fall in medicines consumption if drug prices were to be increased.