Spending on cancer treatment in Czech Republic stagnates amid funding shortfall

2010-03-09

Spending on cancer treatment in the Czech Republic will not increase this year even despite a projected 5% rise in new cancer patients, Jiri Vorlicek, head of the Czech Oncological Society, told Hospodarske Noviny. He explained that because of the economic crisis, health insurers would be unable to lift their expenditure on oncology treatments, although they pledged to continue to fund the most comprehensive treatment for the most ill-patients. The comments came amid reports that insurers’ premium revenues for January were down by 4.75% compared with a year earlier, a substantial drop given a low reference base, as rising unemployment continued to depress contributions. By some estimates, spending at oncology centres could fall by 7% in 2010, after an increase of 35% in 2009.
Under these circumstances, the country’s oncologists are trying to negotiate price reductions from pharma firms. According to Vorlicek, some makers of oncology drugs had volunteered to reduce the price of certain drugs, with a reduction of 7% mentioned.
On current trends, Czech health insurers will need to tap their reserves in order to maintain care at its 2009 levels. While the reserves are thought to be sufficient to cover any funding gap this year, there is concern that the sector could face a substantial shortfall in 2011.