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Country profiles of health system responses to the crisis | Cyprus
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User charges
• Introduction of a co-payment of €1 per prescription in private pharmacies
(2012).
• Introduction of new user charges of €10 for emergency department
use, €0.50 per laboratory test (capped at €10 per referral), €0.50 per
prescribed drug (capped at €10 per prescription) (from 1 August 2013).
• Co-payments for a GP visit increased from €3 to €6 and for a specialist
visit from €2 to €6. Beneficiaries over 65 years have to pay these copayments
(previously they did not pay) (from 1 August 2013);
• User charges increased for non-beneficiaries. More specifically they have
to pay €15 for a GP visit and €30 for a specialist visit, instead of €14.5 and
€15, respectively. Additionally non-beneficiaries have to pay 30% more
for inpatient hospitalization and for all medical procedures, examinations
and laboratory tests during their hospitalization (from 1 August 2013).
Changes to health service planning, purchasing and delivery
Prices of medical goods
• Wholesale prices of prescription medicines in 10 EU countries to be
considered when pricing; prices of new drugs costing over €10 to be updated
every 12 months for the first two years and then every two years (2012).
• Reduction of the profit cap from 37% to 33% for medical products
of €50–250 (giving pharmacists a margin of around 25% of the retail
price) and from 37% to 25% for products costing over €250 (pharmacist
margin of around 20%) (2012).
• VAT introduced for all pharmaceuticals at 5% (2011).
• Introduction of a new surveillance mechanism to monitor polypharmacy
in the public sector (2010).
Salaries and motivation of health sector workers
• Reduction in the salaries of all public sector health professionals (2011,
2012).
• Additional scaled reductions in remuneration of public sector employees
and pension recipients (2012).
• Overtime rates reduced (2012).
Payment to providers
• In accordance with the MoU, the Ministry of Health is required to move
from national case-based payment for hospitals to a DRG system (2013).