New Drug List Cuts Pharmacy Copay to 600 Dinars
Starting Monday, August 17, insured patients get 18 new prescription drugs covered by the state. Here is how much less you will pay at the pharmacy counter, and who this affects.
How much will you pay for a pack of blood thinners at the pharmacy starting tomorrow? About 600 to 1,100 dinars, instead of the current 1,700 to 6,000. New prescription drugs become state funded from Monday, August 17, and it is a difference you will feel the very first time you pick up your therapy.
The Government of Serbia announced on August 5 that insured patients are gaining the right to 18 new prescription drugs. Sixteen are oral blood thinners, and two are drugs for treating heart failure. Until now, patients paid for these medicines in full.
Who does this affect
The sixteen new blood thinners are used to prevent stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation, as well as to treat and prevent recurring deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.
So if someone in your household:
- has atrial fibrillation, meaning an irregular heartbeat
- has had deep vein thrombosis or a pulmonary embolism
- takes blood thinning therapy on a cardiologist’s recommendation
the change affects that household’s budget directly.
The other two drugs come from a different angle. They are primarily diabetes medications, but clinical studies and real world use have shown they can also help patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. That is why they made the list as heart failure therapy.
How much you actually pay from August 17
For the blood thinners, the state covers 70 percent of the price, and the patient pays the remaining 30 percent. The numbers per pack look like this:
- blood thinners: copay drops from the current 1,700 to 6,000 dinars to about 600 to 1,100 dinars
- heart failure drugs: copay drops from the current 2,500 to 4,500 dinars to about 1,700 dinars
For someone who buys a pack every month, turning that upper limit of 6,000 dinars into 1,100 means several thousand dinars a month staying in the household. Over a year, that difference adds up to tens of thousands of dinars.
What the prime minister said
The decision was presented by Serbian Prime Minister Djuro Macut, an endocrinologist by profession, and he pointed to that part of his background directly.
As a physician and endocrinologist, I especially want to stress how important this decision is for patients with chronic non communicable diseases.
Macut added that “diabetes, hypertension, obesity and metabolic disorders are significant cardiovascular risk factors.” These are conditions that rarely show up alone in a doctor’s office, so one patient often carries two or three diagnoses at once.
The second move in two weeks
This is not an isolated measure. Starting August 1, the copay for drugs on List A1 was already reduced, a change that covered a total of 769 drugs. The new 18 arrive sixteen days later, at the same counter and on the same prescription.
A practical tip before you go
If you already take this therapy, the first stop is not the pharmacy but the doctor who prescribes it for you. They will know whether your medicine is among these 18 and whether the prescription itself needs to change. The second step is to keep the receipt from your last pack, because only by comparing the two receipts will you see what actually changed in your case.
Our advice is not to wait until the end of the month. A prescription and daily therapy can least afford an interruption compared to any other household expense.
