Cost and utilisation of pharmaceuticals in Sweden

Issues of efficiency, access, equity and cost have informed Swedish national policy toward pharmaceuticals for many years. While retail pharmacies have been owned and operated by a single state company since 1971, the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals has remained privately owned and operated. Costs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health policy (Amsterdam) 1997-09, Vol.41 (Supp.), p.S55-S69
Main Authors: Ljungkvist, Mats-Olof, Andersson, David, Gunnarsson, Bo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cost Control - methods
Costs
Drug Costs
Drug Industry - economics
Drug Utilization - economics
Drug Utilization - statistics & numerical data
Economics, Pharmaceutical - statistics & numerical data
Health administration
Health care
Health Care Reform - economics
Health Policy
Health services
Humans
Pharmaceutical cost control
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceutical policy
Pharmaceuticals
Regulation
State Medicine - economics
Sweden
Swedish health system
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Description
Summary:Issues of efficiency, access, equity and cost have informed Swedish national policy toward pharmaceuticals for many years. While retail pharmacies have been owned and operated by a single state company since 1971, the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals has remained privately owned and operated. Costs to the health care system for pharmaceuticals have been rising 4–8% in the last several years, despite greater use of generic substitutes. Beyond price-reduction pressures created by the state retail monopoly, by reference pricing, by positive lists, and by an expanded system of capped patient copayments, the national government is considering plans to decentralise responsibility for all outpatients as well as inpatient drug expenditures to the 26 county councils.
ISSN:0168-8510
1872-6054
DOI:10.1016/S0168-8510(97)00053-5