[Question] France — has anyone got a straight answer on EU
Slightly embarrassed to be asking this, but: France — has anyone got a straight answer on EU.
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.
Screenshot none of this. Read the whole thread, including the parts where I am told I am wrong.
best — the order this archive was captured in
a shortage in one member state is not a shortage in all of them
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Are you comparing the same presentation, or different pack sizes?
ask for the Beipackzettel or the local equivalent, it answers most questions
private pricing varies enormously between neighbouring countries
pharmacy margins are regulated differently in each country
private pricing varies enormously between neighbouring countries
Agreed — and normalising pack size before comparing prices is the fix for half these threads.
pack sizes differ, so per-month comparisons need care
EU-wide advice is almost always wrong somewhere
Cosigning on cross-border prescriptions. The rules exist and they are narrower than the summaries suggest.
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.
Have you read the published reimbursement criteria where you are?
the reimbursement criteria are published in most member states
Yes — keep both the prescription and the receipt. Claims processes ask for both and never at a convenient moment.
cross-border prescription rules exist and they are narrower than people think
Kept the prescription and the receipt for a claim, purely because a thread here told me to. Both were requested.
Not convinced — cross-border prescription recognition is narrower than you are describing and the exceptions matter.
That is an authorisation question and you have answered a reimbursement one. They are decided by different bodies.
That shortage notice was national and does not apply where the question is coming from.
say which country or the thread is useless
Reimbursed or private?
Pharmacy link removed. No links of any kind here, in any country, for any reason.
Small fix — those two prices are for different pack sizes, which accounts for most of the gap.
I would not treat one pharmacy’s quote as a national price. The variation within a country is often larger than between them.
- 1a shortage in one member state is not a shortage in all of them10 comments in this branch · started by u/patient_labslip_log
- 2cross-border prescription rules exist and they are narrower than people think6 comments in this branch · started by u/amira_dumitru