The plan aims to ensure that retail prices and amounts paid by a patient for identical government-compensated pharmaceuticals would be the same in all drugstores in Lithuania. A draft order by the minister of healthcare regulates the application of discounts and brings forward a provision that a patient‘s payment for the compensated pharmaceuticals can not be lower than a set minimal payment. In the opinion of LFMI‘s policy analysts, the suggestion to unificate patient payments in all Lithuanian drugstores will increase the prices of pharmaceuticals, reduce competition between sellers and narrow down the spectrum of negotiated issues between traders and producers, this way reducing the competitive pressure of low price and increasing the need for funds from the government. Believing that the suggestion is harmful to patients we recommend abandoning it.
