For Joachim Wathelet, from Solidaris, the government’s recent decision to increase the price of certain drugs may significantly increase the bill for almost half of Belgians.
PPI, statins … Behind these sometimes technical names, these are everyday treatments for a very large number of patients. “It must be understood that around 50 % of the population is affected by this measure,” warns Joachim Wathelet. And the examples he cites are numerous: a pantomed box, used against stomach burns, would go from 4 to 15 euros for two months of treatment. As for the lipitor, prescribed against cholesterol, the box for three months would climb from 6 to 20 euros.
For Solidaris, this is nothing less than a “new health tax”. “We finance health care and then refer the charge to patients who today consume drugs prescribed by their doctor,” said Wathelet. He recalls that Belgium is already one of European countries where the share of care of the patient is among the highest: almost 25 %, against 13 % in Germany and 15 % in France.
Overrofes from the pharmaceutical industry
At the heart of the debate, the question of funding. Solidaris has been pleading for a long time for better control of the medication budget, but targeting the “overpros of the pharmaceutical industry” rather than patients. “Political courage would have been to negotiate price reductions with industry, not to postpone these savings on the back of the sick,” insists Wathelet.
However, the final decision is not yet acted, he recalls. Solidaris intends to continue its fight, especially since other measures, such as the reform of the status of agreement of doctors, could also result in the cost of consultations. “Our room for maneuver is to require a refinancing of health care and to oppose any new increase for patients. »»
In the background, a simple but crucial question: who, tomorrow, will pay the price of savings imposed on the health system?
