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03-05-2023

The health insurance funds: three times more funds to reimburse oncology medicines

Iliustracija

Over the last seven years, expenses of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (CHIF) for reimbursement of anticancer medicines to Lithuanian residents have increased three times, shows the analysis carried out by the National Health Insurance Fund under the Ministry of Health (NHIF).

“In 2016, EUR 64 million was needed to compensate for anticancer medicines from the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. Financing for oncology medicines has increased by around 20 pct. each year and it tripled last year by reaching up to EUR 193 million. No other group of medicines has experienced such a rapid growth as this one,” notices Evaldas Stropus, a head of Pharmaceuticals Reimbursement Division of the NHIF.

There are no doubts that such a significant jump was caused not only by a significant increase in the number of patients with oncological diseases in 2016-2022, but also by inclusion of many new and rather expensive medicines into the compensation system.

“85 medicines for the treatment of oncological diseases were included in the list of compensated medicines in 2016, meanwhile, last year, the health insurance funds have reimbursed 130 different anticancer medicines,” says E. Stropus.

Based on the analysis, treatment of bronchial and pulmonary malignant tumours with reimbursable medicines was the most expensive for the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund last year. It cost more than EUR 27 million. Last year, almost EUR 21 million more was spent on reimbursing medicines for malignant melanoma, and over EUR 17 million on medicines for breast cancer. There was also more than EUR 15 million to reimburse medicines for lymphoid leukemia and almost EUR 14 million to reimburse medicines for kidney cancer patients.

The analysis carried out by the specialists of the NHIF also revealed that, in 2022, almost 45 000 people in Lithuania were taking reimbursable anticancer medicines, i.e. 11 thousand more patients than in 2016. This shows that oncology diagnostics has improved significantly over the past years, and the inclusion of expensive innovative anticancer medicines in the reimbursement system has proven to be successful, potentially leading to a longer survival rate for cancer patients.

(Freepik photo)

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Last updated: 09-08-2023

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