Expenditure On Retail Pharmaceuticals Per Capita, 2017 (USD$ PPP)
Prescribed Medicines: NA
Over-The-Counter Medicines: NA
Medical Non-Durable: NA
Total: $391 (no breakdown provided)

Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.

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Expenditure On Retail Pharmaceuticals By Type Of Financing, 2017 (%)
Government/Compulsory Plans: 68%
Voluntary Health Insurance Plans: 1%
Out-Of-Pocket: 31%
Other: 0%

Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.

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“Over-the-counter pharmaceuticals are available at several places, depending on the category of medication. The first category consists of medication that is only available at pharmacies; the second category is also sold by chemists; and the third, most easily available category is also available in supermarkets and petrol stations. Over-the-counter medication and other non-reimbursed medication accounted for €170 million, about 4% of all pharmaceutical expenditure in 2014 (Griens et al., 2015).

“In 2014 GPs issued one or more prescriptions for about 70% of their patients, and more than 90% of patients aged 75 and older received one or more prescriptions (Prins et al., 2015c). Expenditure on pharmaceutical care increased from €5212 million (2005) to €6038 million (2010), then decreased to €5169 million (2014) (Statistics Netherlands, 2015a). The decrease is mainly a result of the preferred medicine policy by health insurers (Batenburg, Kroneman & Sagan, 2015) (see Section 3.7.2).”

Source: Kroneman M, Boerma W, van den Berg M, Groenewegen P, de Jong J, van Ginneken E (2016). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2016; 18(2):1–239.

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“The decision to include pharmaceuticals in the benefit package is based on well-established health technology assessment (HTA) processes carried out by the NHI, while past pharmaceutical policies (direct pricing, and preferred medicines policies) have yielded notable efficiency improvements. Generic penetration is growing and comparatively high, with use of generics substitution encouraged unless otherwise indicated by the prescribing physician (Figure 23). Moreover, the Netherlands, together with Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Ireland, are members of the Beneluxa initiative, which aims to improve collaboration on pharmaceutical policy, including HTA.

“New pharmaceuticals used in hospitals were until recently included in the basic benefit package without price negotiations. Since 2018, these are labelled ‘in transit’. During this transit period, the NHI assesses the pharmaceutical and makes a recommendation to the Minister, who can then negotiate the price, before a decision is taken on whether or not the drug is included in the benefit package. The regulation applies to pharmaceuticals costing more than EUR 50,000 per treatment per year and more than EUR 10 million per year in total; or that cost more than EUR 40 million per year in total, irrespective of its price per treatment.”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2019), The Netherlands: Country Health Profile 2019, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.

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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and several other nations.

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Page last updated October 13, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.