The hospital pharmaceutical expenditure in Italy skyrockets. Based on drug consumption in the first months of 2023 surveyed by Iqvia, pharmaceutical expenditure for direct (hospital) purchases in 2023 will once again exceed 
the ceiling programmed by law, reaching – according to estimates – around 13 billion euros, +6% compared to 2022. Against an estimated ceiling of around 9.7 billion euros (7.65% of the National Health Fund, as in 2021 and 2022), this increase will lead to a deficit of around €3.3 billion, up by 20% compared to 2022.
Of these, half, or about 1.6 billion, will have to be paid off by pharmaceutical companies - recalls Iqvia - with the payback system. The remainder will be paid by the individual Regions based on their exceeding the allocated budget. Starting from 2022, however, companies that have already fulfilled the full payment of the shelf charge for the years 2019 and 2020 will enjoy a reduction in the amount to be paid, recalculating the value of the shelf as if the ceiling were 8% in 2022 and 8.15% in 2023. The payback for these companies will therefore be calculated as if the overall payback for 2023 were approximately 1.4 billion euro.
Innovative medicines and innovative oncology products which are included in a single separate fund worth 1.2 billion euros in 2023 are excluded from these calculations. In this case, Iqvia does not foresee any overrun, but rather a surplus of around 300 million euro which, however, does not offset the expenditure for direct purchases. The agreed expenditure (red recipe) is expected to grow by around 1.5% compared to 2022, reaching around 8.1 billion euros. It will remain within the programmed ceiling, generating an increasing surplus of resources compared to 2022 (around 800 million, compared to 728 million verified by Aifa for 2022).
Source: The Special – 9 May 2023 (from Adnkronos)
Related news: AIFA. Monitoring of National and Regional Pharmaceutical Expenditure January-December 2022
