Spain's Rx co-payment effects analysed

Lower co-payments for public sector employees in Spain do not result in dissimilar consumption patterns than for people who pay the higher level  imposed on most of the population, according to research published in  the Bulletin of Drug Market Trends, which is produced by the  research-based drugmakers' group, the Farmaindustria. Perhaps more  surprisingly, the level of co-payments does not translate into different  behavior when compared with pensioners, who do not pay anything, the  study found.

One of the most striking national differences was the very high level of  spending - 40% of the total - by the mutual funds covering public sector  employees in the Madrid and Andalucia regions, although the  Farmaindustria said this reflects the distribution of government  officials, which is disproportionate in those two parts of the country.  However, the data also showed that variations from the national average  in medicines use were similar across the different co-payment levels in  each of Spain's regional government areas. Public sector workers pay 30%  towards the cost of drugs, while private counterparts contribute 40%.