Publication: Action Needed : Spiraling Drug Prices Empty Russian Pockets
Date
2010-02
ISSN
Published
2010-02
Author(s)
Marquez, Patricio
Bonch-Osmolovskiy, Mikhail
Abstract
In large measure, this is due to the
relatively low level of public health spending in the
country (about 3.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)
in 2008) that underlines the significant gap between the
constitutional commitment to a range of medical care
services and the actual funding to pay for them. While drugs
are supposed to be provided to hospital patients free of
charge, an estimated 80 percent of inpatients still have to
pay part of the costs of their medicines and most
outpatients must purchase them from pharmacies. The
outpatient drug program under mandatory health insurance
covers only around 16 million people (11 percent of the
total population in the country), with more than half of
them opting to receive cash rather than in-kind benefits
under the 2005 'monetization' of prescription drug
benefits. Those who continue with the in-kind benefits
appear to be the ones greatest in need of drugs. The
situation is further aggravated by the country's
ineffective enforcement of controls on wholesale and retail
mark-ups for medicines. Household expenditure on drugs
accounted for about 30 percent of total health expenditure
in Russia, as compared to 12 percent in Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in 2008.
Citation
“Marquez, Patricio; Bonch-Osmolovskiy, Mikhail. 2010. Action Needed : Spiraling Drug Prices Empty Russian Pockets. Europe and Central Asia Knowledge Brief; Volume No. 19. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/1dcda5c8-3e89-5929-acda-59a1f85cc8a6 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”