Pharmaceutical spending in July dropped by 24% because of medical copays, which for the first time forced pensioners to take on 10% of their prescription costs.
Not only did spending decrease, but the number of prescriptions filed dropped by 14.1%. It seems like the plan was effective, because spending and receipts did increase in the Basque country, the only region that did not apply it. But we'll have to wait several months to see how effective the measure proves to be, because following the tiny increase in prescription sales in June immediately before the measure went into effect, it makes sense that sales would drop in July. Further, six regions are two months behind in paying pharmacies. A lot of work lies ahead to set the pharmacies straight.
