Hungarian drug makers to be forced to repay 16% of subsidies?

There are also numerous guesses on the size of further payments producers would need to effectuate if the National Health Fund Administration (OEP) exceeds its drug subsidy budget. Health Minister Lajos Molnár said on Wednesday the tax on the subsidized content of drugs would be a double-digit tax. According to business daily Napi Gazdaság, producers will be forced to channel 16% of into the OEP, while broadsheet Népszabadság mentions in two separate articles 16% and 10%-14% rates. The latter medium also reports that in case of products with a fix subsidy, producers will need to repay 14% or 6-8% of their subsidies. In case of a 10% overspending of the drugs budget, Napi said producers would be forced to increase their payment into the OEP proportionate to their sales. They would be exempt from this obligation if reasons for overspending could not be linked to the producers. In addition, the government aims to introduce stricter regulation of drug advertising cut subsidies for pharmacies and ban pharmacies to sell products to persons younger than 14 years of age. The cabinet also plans to tax drug companies a one-off Ft 5 million for each sales representative and Ft 1 million per representative each year after that. (portfolio.hu)