Odgovornost za financiranje zdravil

Abstract

This paper presents the regulatory framework for medicine in Slovenia and describes its financing. Financing approaches for medicine, with lower prices than the market, are being introduced at several levels. International comparisons show that the availability of medicine in Slovenia is at the average European level. An area in which we are far behind the most developed countries is the use of biosimilars. Suggestions are made to increase their consumption. This will improve cost management and allow new medicine to be introduced faster. This is especially important in the area of medicine for rare diseases (orphan drugs), where we keep facing highly high costs. Proposals to set up a special fund for orphan drugs mean a nonsystematic solution and diversification of funding to several financially and personnel-limited payers, which would weaken Slovenia's bargaining power against pharmaceutical companies and make the medicine less accessible. The current model of drug development and marketing is becoming increasingly socially unacceptable. That is why ideas about how to improve the way medicine is developed, patented, and funded to the benefit of society are emerging