Cepoi said officials with the Health Ministry, the Health Insurance House and the Finance Ministry are meeting Monday to discuss the situation and find solutions. Cepoi added he is very concerned about the feedback of drug producers and importers regarding the clawback tax, which has a direct impact on patients’ access to drugs and necessary treatments.
The Association of Romanian Producers of Generic Drugs (APMGR) has recently called for the immediate suspension of the clawback tax and for discussions to find a viable solution, in the interest of patients and the economy.
APMGR president Dragos Damian last week said the clawback tax for the first quarter of 2012 is almost double the tax for the fourth quarter of 2011, which was 17%-20% of the sales of every producer. He warned that enforcing this tax will have very serious economic and social consequences,” eliminating certain drugs from the market and pushing producers of generic drugs into insolvency.
Damian also said the clawback tax in its current form is unfair and unsustainable, because it is charged to producers, but computed according to the shelf price, which includes the distributor’s margin, the pharmacy’s margin and VAT. He added the tax is a source of serious liquidity problems for companies, since they are required to pay the tax before being compensated by the National Health Insurance House.