ZAGREB, January 2, 2019 – The enactment of the law lowering the standard Value Added rate of 25% to 5% on non-prescription medicines will pave the way for the reduction of retail prices of OTC medicines by 18-19 percent as of the start of 2019, the Croatian Chamber of Pharmacists (HLJK) has stated.
The Croatian government has recently proposed that all medicines, including prescription and non-prescription drugs, should be taxed by a 5% rate as of 1 January 2019.
This would lead to a marked lowering of prices of non-prescription medicines as of the new year, which means that medicines for influenza and cold, nose drops, painkillers and about 500 kinds of other OTC drugs will be 18% cheaper, HLJK chairwoman Ana Soldo has said.
Prices of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs are currently between 25 and 40 kuna and will further drop to between 20-30 kuna. Drugs for cold symptoms and nose drops will be 10 kuna cheaper.
The most frequently sold OTC drugs in Croatia are painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs as well as drugs for cold symptoms.
Spending on OTC drugs in Croatia is currently twice as high as it was five years ago. However, Soldo has warned that some of the drug companies have in the meantime already risen prices of their products that the lower VAT would only offset that increase, which means that the prices of such products would not be changed as of the new year.
In this context, the HLJK chamber points out the German Berlin-Chemie as the only one that has increased the prices of its products to such extent that buyers cannot see the effect of the lower VAT on its products in 2019.
Soldo hopes that other producers will not follow the example of that company. She criticises Berlin-Chemie for its ill-considered decision that will neutralise the good effects of the lower VAT rate on OTC drugs.
The Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) has recently stated that it expects an additional 1.3 billion kuna in revenues in 2019 after the increase of the standard health insurance contribution rate from 15% to 16.5%.
All that should facilitate efforts to reduce the overall debt of kuna 8.2 billion in the public healthcare system.
More news on the healthcare in Croatia can be found in our Lifestyle section.
