On 18th July 2023, the Department of Health and Social Care published its proposed review of the 2023 scheme to control the cost of branded health service medicines.
The open consultation on the Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing has proposed updates, intended to ensure that the Statutory Scheme can continue to meet its objectives from 2024 onwards. These updates would be reflective whether it would be alongside a successor Voluntary Scheme or as a standalone Statutory Scheme in the absence of this.
The consultation sets out proposed amendments in 3 main areas:
Increasing the allowed growth rate which will have the effect of changing the payment percentages
Revising which sales of branded medicines are exempt from scheme payments
Implemented under a structure similar to the current Statutory Scheme or alongside a new approach to control spending on older branded medicines (the ‘lifecycle adjustment’)
The consultation also sets out proposals to clarify the treatment of biological medicinal products (biological products or biological medicines).
Find a summary of the consultation in our latest snapshot:
