Around one in 10 reimbursed medicines must be permanently available in pharmacies. The list of essential reimbursed medicines covers those most commonly needed by patients, and their availability must be ensured by more than 1,350 pharmacies that have contracts with the Lithuanian Health Insurance Fund.
These medicines have the lowest co-payment, meaning residents pay less or nothing for them.
The list of essential medicines includes treatments for the most common health conditions. These include medicines that lower blood pressure, improve heart function, relieve pain, and treat diabetes, asthma, high intraocular pressure and other conditions for which medicines are commonly prescribed. The list currently contains 238 essential reimbursed medicines.
A list of medicines that must be available in pharmacies is necessary to ensure that patients can obtain essential medicines even in unexpected situations
Evaldas Stropus, Head of the Medicines Reimbursement Department at the State Health Insurance Fund.
The list is updated every six months. It may also be updated between scheduled revisions when new generic medicines are added to the price list of reimbursed medicines. It does not include biological medicines, branded medicines, single-manufacturer medicines with a base price of more than €150, or certain groups of medicines, such as narcotics and medicines for HIV treatment, which are available only at a limited number of pharmacies.
A pharmacy may be allowed not to have a particular medicine in stock if it has not sold any units of that medicine for six months.
However, at a patient’s request, the pharmacy must order the medicine and ensure its delivery within two days in cities and within four days in rural areas. If a medicine is unavailable in Lithuania because of supply disruptions, the pharmacy must offer an alternative containing the same active substance.
Almost half of Lithuania’s population uses reimbursed medicines and medical aids, and their use has increased by 14% over the past five years. As a result, both the availability and affordability of medicines are becoming increasingly important to the population.
Only medicines with the lowest co-payment are included on the list of essential medicines. When purchasing reimbursed medicines with the lowest co-payment, patients accumulate co-payments throughout the year. Once the accumulated amount reaches the threshold, which is €70.02 this year, patients no longer have to pay for the lowest-cost reimbursed medicines for the remainder of the year, as the co-payment is covered by the state.
