The Health Insurance Fund (HIF) announced yesterday a public call for pharmacies to submit bids for the conclusion of contracts for the provision and dispensing of prescription drugs. Applications with the required evidence and documentation must be submitted by September 19th.
"Vijesti" recently announced that the current two-year contracts expire on September 30th, but that it is uncertain whether citizens will be able to pick up prescription medication from private pharmacies after that date, because until yesterday the model of cooperation with private companies was not known.
Judging by the public call, the conditions have remained the same for the next two-year period - one company can nominate a maximum of one pharmacy for each municipality.
Pharmacies must submit a decision from the Ministry of Health along with the application on meeting the prescribed conditions regarding premises, staff and medical and technical equipment, a decision on registration in the Central Register of Business Entities, an extract from the Central Register of Business Entities and a decision on tax registration, as well as a certificate that they have settled their tax and social security contribution obligations by May 31 of this year. Among other things, proof of pharmaceutical staff is also required - for pharmacists, a license and an employment contract for an indefinite period or at least for 12 months, and for technicians, a diploma on the acquired professional title and the passed professional exam...
The Fund told "Vijesti" at the beginning of the week that they had started the procedure for issuing a public call on time.
"The Health Insurance Fund initiated the procedure for announcing a public call in mid-May of this year. After receiving the consent of the Ministry of Health at the end of June, we initiated a session of the Board of Directors in the first half of July, which was held on 22 July 7. No final decision was made at that session of the Board of Directors, but the Board of Directors requested additional analyses in terms of experiences in the region and European practice," the Fund's response states.
They specified that after that, the Board of Directors held several sessions in July and August, at which it discussed in detail three models according to which the contracts between the Fund and private pharmacies would operate in the coming period, but a final decision has not yet been made.
"In the meantime, the Fund has also informed the relevant ministries, which have their representatives on the Board of Directors, about the dynamics of the implementation of the aforementioned process. We expect a meeting of the Board of Directors to be held this week at which the final decision will be made," the Fund says.
When asked how much time it takes to conclude new contracts, given that the current ones expire on September 30th, the Fund said that significant time is needed for the work of the Commission that checks the offers, considering the great interest from pharmacies in previous years.
"At this point, given the circumstances, we can almost certainly say that the complete process of future cooperation with private pharmacies will not be completed by September 30th," the Fund said at the time.
The current contracts between the Fund and private individuals have been in force since September 2023, and were signed for a period of two years with 60 legal entities, within which 113 pharmacies operate.
The reform of the cooperation model with them occurred in 2021, when the number of private pharmacies in a contractual relationship with the Fund was reduced from 198 to 120. This occurred because it was stipulated that one company could nominate only one pharmacy where citizens could pick up prescription medications in all municipalities, except in Podgorica, where one legal entity could nominate two.
Two years ago, the terms of the public call were changed so that one company, regardless of the size of the municipality, could nominate one pharmacy where insured persons could pick up their prescribed therapy.
Last year, the Fund paid around 74 million euros to "Montefarma" for prescription drugs, and around 27 million euros to private pharmacies.
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