Zero-discount rules change on 1 May
New criteria for the exemption of products from the Drug Tariff discount clawback for England and Wales come into effect on 1 May.
New products will only be added to the zero-discount list if they meet
at least one of four new criteria and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating
Committee asks for them to be included.
The criteria are:
· Schedule 2 or 3 Controlled Drugs
· Hazchem, cytotoxic or cytostatic products
· Require cold-chain storage
· Neither manufacturer, AAH nor Unichem offer a discount, fewer than
500,000 units are dispensed each year and average net ingredient cost
per prescription is over £50
In addition, later in the year, probably September, any current zero-discount
products that fail to meet one of the new criteria will be removed from
the list. At the same time, the discount scale will be reduced to make
the change cost-neutral.
Once all products that fail to qualify under the new rules have been
removed from the list, zero-discount endorsements on prescriptions dispensed
by pharmacy contractors will become unnecessary, except where products
have been obtained from specials manufacturers. The endorsement will
change from ZD to DNG — discount not given.
This is the first change to the remuneration system arising from last
year’s consultation
on simplifying the reimbursement system (PJ,
17 September 2005, p329). |
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