how much of what we believe about reimbursement actually comes from EMA threads
Slightly embarrassed to be asking this, but: how much of what we believe about reimbursement actually comes from EMA threads.
Asked in my own language at a local pharmacy and got a clearer answer in five minutes than a fortnight of forum reading.
On cross-border prescriptions, since the assumption behind half these threads is wrong.
There are EU rules on the recognition of prescriptions issued in another member state, and they are conditional: the prescription has to meet requirements about its form and content, certain categories are excluded, and pharmacies retain discretion in practice.
The result is that "my prescription will be accepted anywhere in the EU" is not a safe assumption, and members here have discovered it at a counter in another country. If it matters for a trip, check before you travel with the pharmacy and with somebody qualified where you are. Nothing on this board is advice about that, and the rules are national in their application whatever the framework says.
How to compare prices across borders without misleading yourself.
Normalise the pack size first. Presentations differ between member states and a headline figure for one pack is not comparable to another. Then separate reimbursed from private prices, which are set by entirely different mechanisms. Then note the dispensing fee structure, which is nationally regulated.
When members here have done all three, the interesting finding has consistently been that variation between pharmacies within a country is often as large as the variation between countries — which makes the cross-border shopping most of these threads are really about far less attractive than it looks.
Corrections welcome, especially the pedantic ones. Pedantry is how this board earns its reputation.
best — the order this archive was captured in
Pointing this one at a pharmacist locally. Eligibility questions have national answers we cannot give.
the EMA authorises, member states decide who pays
keep the prescription and the receipt, both matter for claims
Push back: comparing headline prices across countries without normalising pack size is comparing two different quantities.
Is the prescription from the same country as the pharmacy?
Is the prescription from the same country as the pharmacy?
tobias_vukovic is right about cross-border recognition being narrower than the summaries suggest.
Kept the prescription and the receipt for a claim, purely because a thread here told me to. Both were requested.
Are you comparing the same presentation, or different pack sizes?
Small fix — those two prices are for different pack sizes, which accounts for most of the gap.
EU-wide advice is almost always wrong somewhere
Published reimbursement criteria exist in most member states and are usually available in the national language. They are the authoritative answer to eligibility questions that this board can only guess at.
The variation between pharmacies inside my own country was larger than the variation I had been chasing across the border.
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What does the local patient information leaflet say?
Agreed that pharmacy margin regulation explains a lot of the price differences people find mysterious.
Marketing authorisation is granted centrally for these products; reimbursement, pricing and prescribing criteria are national competences. Those are decided by different bodies with different processes.
a shortage in one member state is not a shortage in all of them
Assumed a prescription would be honoured across the border. It was not, and the rules are clear once you actually read them.
Yes — keep both the prescription and the receipt. Claims processes ask for both and never at a convenient moment.
Read the published reimbursement criteria where I live rather than asking. Took twenty minutes and answered everything.
say which country or the thread is useless
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